Meet Misty K. Snow, A Democratic Senate Candidate In Utah Who Chuck Schumer Refuses To Recognize

Pretty much the only Senate race in the whole country that DSCC bosses Chuck Schumer and Jon Tester refuse to even acknowledge exists is the one in Utah for the seat of far right extremist Mike Lee. The DSCC website lists every race-- including ones without candidates-- except the one in Utah, where they are somehow offended that a political outsider, a super-progressive transgender woman, Misty Katherine Snow, won the primary. Misty was an outspoken Bernie supporter, something that infuriated Schumer, of course. When Bernie beat Hillary by a huge margin-- 61,333 (79.3%) to 15,666 (20.3%)-- it just further antagonized the Senate Democrats new self-styled dictator. Misty beat the conservative Blue Dog, Jonathan Swinton, that the party establishment was pushing-- and she beat him convincingly, 27,138 (59.4%) to 18,530 (40.6%), despite Swinton spending almost twice as much as she did.

After she became the official Democratic Party candidate and Chuck Schumer refused to acknowledge that Utah is even a state with a Senate race, Blue America endorsed her. You can contribute to her campaign by tapping on the thermometer on the right. We asked if she would be interested in writing a guest post about the single issue that most animates her campaign and that she feels the strongest about. Please give a read and then consider helping her get her message out to an electorate in Utah that is apoplectic and Trump being the Republican Party's nominee. The DSCC should understand this and give Misty a hand but... well, Chuck Schumer.

Fighting For A Living Wage In Utah
-by Senate candidate Misty K. Snow

Currently 51% of people in this country make $30,000 a year or less. This means a majority are barely making it, they are living in poverty or are close to it. This is unacceptable; we must do better for working people in this country and their families.  

The current minimum wage of $7.25 in this country is not enough. A working person cannot live on that wage anywhere in the county. Such a low wage is not only insufficient to live on; it is actually an insult to working people. No corporation can be profitable without the talents and labor of its workers; do they not deserve to share in the fruits of their labor?

The workers being paid these low wages often rely on public assistance such as food stamps and subsidized housing in order to survive. These benefits paid to low income workers and their families in effect become a form of corporate welfare as it forcing the government to fill in the income gap of workers who are not being paid a living wage while the corporations that employ them make millions of dollars in profits.

Every year taxpayers spend $6.2 billion on food stamps, housing assistance, and other forms of welfare to meet the needs of Wal-Mart employers around the country and that is just one corporation. All together taxpayers are spending $153 billion every year on welfare programs just to meet the needs of already employed people. Why are we subsidizing the low wages paid by corporations that are making millions, or even billions of dollars in profits? Why do we not make these corporations pay their workers a living wage?

We must fight for a living wage in this country. We must raise the minimum wage in this country and we must do so aggressively. I believe that we can raise the minimum wage to $15 on hour over the next several years with an annual adjustment for inflation thereafter. Doing so will finally allow tens of millions of working people in this country to finally make a wage that is much closer to a living wage and by also including an annual adjustment for inflation we ensure that we will not have to fight this battle again down the road.  

Furthermore the workers who are being paid these low wages are disproportionately women, people of color, members of the LGBT community. If we want to help close the wage gap experienced by women, people of color, and the LGBT community then it is necessary that we increase the minimum wage.  

We can win on this issue and we must win on this issue. Inaction here will abandon far to many working people and their families to poverty while allowing corporations to reap the benefits of subsidized low wages. It's time to make corporations pay their workers a living wage so that working people and their families can live with dignity and economic security.