to all constituents (not just industrial farming), seems reasonable for demographics of 10A.

Rep. Hamilton, former chair of Ag/Finance Cmte, is a Christensen Farms production agricultural hog producer. (No conflict of interest when he chaired Ag?) My family is also involved in Big Pork biz in Iowa, and this business sometimes needs, shall we say, "encouragement" to maintian environmental friendliness. (Don't get me wrong, I love me some bacon and Famous Daves, but MPCA rules have their place, too.)

"It's fascinating for Hamilton to be fretting about bills that the DFL caucus doesn't seem to be talking about--nor does Bluestem expect them to be brought forward by Jeanne Poppe, DFL-Hormel (Austin), who now heads the next morph of Hamilton's old committee. Nor do we foresee the senate counterpart, run by Dan Sparks, DFL-Hormel(Austin), as abandoning production agriculture.

Rather, those concerns seem generated more by The Price is Right's Bob Barker and Mercy for Animals, which last summer released a video that went viral that purported to be shot from the inside of hog barns kept by Hamilton's employer, Christensen Farms.

So far as Bluestem knows, Barker was not elected to the Minnesota Legislature, although Hamilton anticipated the undercover Mercy for Animals videographer when he introduced the infamous Ag-Gag bill in 2011. (To read Christenen Farms' response to the video, click here).

And while Hamilton may not have a college education, it's clear that he's grown on the job:

He has been with Christensen Farms for 19 years now working his way through the ranks, developing expertise in production, business development, human resources, public relations, political relations, transportation logistics, bio-security and communications.

Knowing the importance of getting involved, Hamilton became a member of the Minnesota Farm Bureau and the Minnesota Pork Producers Association along with their local affiliates. Both organizations provided opportunities for Hamilton to network with individuals making a difference in agriculture.

Christensen Farms employs over 1000 employees in six states, generating revenues of about $500 million annually.

Other than that, Hamilton is an uneducated hog farmer."

http://www.bluestemprairie.com/bluestemprairie/2012/12/representation-ro...

. . . one of the strongest advocates for farmers in our MN state history was an environmentalist progressive from the north side of Minneapolis (former Gov. Floyd B. Olson. This historic fact may be something rural Republicans in the legislature should have considered this week before they attacked the new DFL selection for chairwoman of the Environment, Natural Resources and Agriculture Finance Committee, Rep. Jean Wagenius. She is also an environmental progressive from Minneapolis, but from the south side of the metropolis." http://www.conservationminnesota.org/news/headlines/agriculture-and-envi...

The House Republican signers of this letter, still possibly stinging from losing their Chair(s) in ag-related committees, should give the new division of powers a chance. For all we know, Rep. Wagenius likes her eggs with bacon, too, but also likes to drink clean water and smell clean air at the breakfast table.

Conserving the environment for us and future generations is a bad thing?

Thanks Rep Ward!

Uneducated hog farmer? That is low and smelly.

Do the 2 DFL's work for Hormel? Poppe andSparks?..

Ward is retired from teaching, and thus couldn't directly financially benefit from any work on educational issues in the legislature.

You simply can't get away from any individual legislator working on something of interest to them. The key--and I see a lot of republicans ignoring this lately--is whether there is direct, financial benefit from doing so.

I think we want people working in areas where they have expertise, don't we? Do you really want someone having no say on legislation when they are more of an expert on it's impact than others would be?

It's when it comes to directly benefiting financially that legislators get into trouble, no matter what party they belong to.

And even worse is putting the fox in charge of the henhouse--which is what these two jokers are whining about. Committee chairs should be supportive of the general function of their committee--not someone who would just as soon see it abolished entirely!

Something needs to be done with the public pension system in MN and that includes the teachers pension fund.
Underfunded. I believe we (taxpayers) paid in extra to help out. Wiill they take a cut in pension pay? Will they even take a cut in the proposed increase?

It is complicated but, private taxpayers can't continue to fund the public pensions.
John Ward does and will continue to look out for his pension and the pay of teachers. After all, it's for the kids.
Now when he retires or loses his seat, he can double dip.
Not public service - self-service.

I mention John Ward and teachers pension because someone brought up the uneducated pig farmer. They fail to see the flaws in Mr. Ward.

Ditto to that SML. Two thumbs up to ya this morning.

all, Sadie and Purposed. Did you read the post, or just jump to your own conclusions? Those were Hamilton's own words, describing himself in self-deprecating manner (in order to portray himself as an "awe, shucks, I'm just a farmer, who knows nothing about business" kind of guy. I agree -- not a very civil description of himself.

Teacher pensions are, apparently, fixed at the time of a teacher's retirement, so any votes Rep. Ward casts won't affect his paycheck.

Proud Rino -- Thanks, as usual, for your good and reasonable sense of things.

Purposed: Hate to upset the tidy profile you've created, but if I can place my own order, I'll take Wisconsin cheddar, Famous Dave's and an ice-cold brewski. I don't mind jazz if someone's playing it, but not my first choice. Some of my favorite people -- whose intelligence I hold in high regard -- have received their "degrees" from the school of hard knocks, rather than an institution of "higher learning". You make some fairly unfounded presumptions, my friend.

"As to city folks heading agriculture decision making, where is Cargill headquartered." Wagenius's town of origin doesn't preclude her using her brain and experience to make best decisions with limited budget resources. Ward isn't my Representative, but, given the demographic breakdown of his constituents' occupations, it seems like he's walking a middle road. The tourism industry in 10A may occasionally have different interests than agribusiness (and the latter isn't huge in 10A).

Hey, Charlie. I disagree with your characterization of Ward, but to each their own. Do you read Strib? If not, here's an article regarding Vet's benefits that you might find interesting:
http://www.startribune.com/local/186641021.html?refer=y

that includes the apparently offensive speech to which you refer. If the Dispatch had a way of "block quoting", it may have been easier to discern that it was a long, multi-paragraph quote. You could also verify it as a long quote by simply clicking on the BSP reference, following last quotation mark. Simple. If my English teacher has a problem with my grammar and writing skills, so be it. I never purported to be a great writer. This is more about the content -- and the content you are attributing to me is not mine (it's Bluestem Prairie's and Rep. Hamilton's).

We all know folks who are self-deprecating in the manner of Rep. Hamilton when he referred to himself as an "uneducated hog farmer". It was tongue-in-cheek, to throw us off of the path of what was, in reality, great business acumen and success. Peace back at ya, Purposed! I'll try to bone-up on my grammar and punctuation skills for future posts, if they're throwing you off course!

No, I don't read the strib. I have more respect for my conservative values. The strib is a liberal rag. With that said, I did follow your advice and read that article. Much of that article, if not all of it, is true. The advice from the Duluth area applies right here in CWC also. I can eleborate with evidence on every one of the issues in this article. I personally have a congressional investigation ongoing that was originated with congressman Cravaack office and was handed to Nolans office when he took over so that it can continue through the process. This is an issue that should have been resolved at the VA Hospital in Mpls. but a lack of leadership at the Local VA and regional VA medical centers has caused it to be dragged all the way to Washington. You wouldn't believe the way these government VA employees treat our congressmen/congresswomen. They no longer show any type of respect for our legislative leaders. I believe their conduct originates in DC. On the federal level, we have never been treated so lowly as we have been, under the leadership of the current director of Veterans Affairs, Mr, Shinseki, a presidential appointee and cabinet member in the Obama administration. The mentality appears to be money first, veterans health next. The exact opposite of what it should be. On the statewide level, we have a very good commissioner of veterans affairs, Lt General Larry Shellito. He is a Dayton appointee. I can't believe he was aware of the problems mentioned in this article. After reading this article, I immediately placed a call to him and I know he will return my call tomorrow morning. I will discus it with him and will get some answers. As to the problems that exist here in CWC, and there are multiple, I have already been in contact with county officials and they are well aware of the local situation. Look for changes in CWC. Now, on the other hand, the Veterans Service Officer, a woman, in Aitkin County, has got to be one of the best in the state. An example that all 87 counties in Minnesota should follow. I don't have the time or space to elaborate further on here about the article you quoted by I am infuriated. I am not a one man wrecking crew but I will get some answers. I may need the help of veterans like you for support but I'll work it by myself for now. Thanks again for your info on this article.
s/s Charlie PS: I advise that if you need veterans support, contact the Aitkin County Veterans Service Officer, not CWC. You don't need to live in Aitkin Cty to go there.

The uneducated hog farmer remark, I knew it wasn't from you
but, did think it was from the writer. I didn't understand that the guy said it himself. Good for him as that is an occupation that gets the jokes. I had to read your first comment twice as all the names got confusing

I read the Strib article, I think yesterday, and it was eye opening to say the least.
To me, this article was about John Ward not the pig farmer.

For such a senior citizen, you are kinda funny sometimes. Remember, laughter is the best medicine, especially for senior seniors. LOL

Sadie, you say, "To me, this article was about John Ward, not the pig farmer", but it was the "pig farmer" (Rep. Hamilton) who wrote the letter critical of Rep. Ward! It's about both of them, and more. (Remember, Farmer Hamilton, the man who lost his job as Ag Policy and Finance chair, who had a potential conflict of interest when he was in the position, and who thinks Rep. Ward is voting against some vague "rural" interests.) Hamilton's letter appeared in papers throughout the state (as one can tell from the vague language). Hamilton's and Ward's constituents' interests are not the same, and, presumably Ward considered his own 10A demographics when he voted on this House housekeeping issue.

In fact the last sentence of para. 3 in Hamilton's (and Daudt's) letter, " . . . now chairs the committee whose decision directly impact jobs in OUR (caps mine) area", indicates they didn't even bother to adapt their form letter sufficiently to apply to us. ("our area" should be "YOUR area"). It seems all they bothered to do with this canned letter was fill in the name of the legislator they were attacking. I'm not a fan of one-size-fits-all attack letters like this, from either side of the political aisle.

Eye: Thanks for the good feedback. I incorrectly presumed my three paragraph introduction to the Bluestem quote was sufficient. But there's admittedly lots of backstory involved to understand the context of this lte meant to demean Ward. Once I realized who Rep. Hamilton was, his canned attack became a meaningless political exercise, overshadowed by his personal resume and potential conflicts of interest.

Charlie: As I mentioned a couple of days ago, I'm not a veteran -- just an interested citizen who thinks promises made by our gov't. to our vets need to be honored, period. Few things upset me more than when I hear about the long wait time for vets in need of physical/mental healthcare. Absolutely unacceptable. We shouldn't be entering into "off-the-books" wars (in terms of paying for them, including vet after-care) if we refuse to raise the revenue to pay for them.

the Lefters "thumb up" this lying Liberal. It's like stuffing a ballot box and paying illegals to vote for them. drhassett has a good crowd to hang out with.

I'm not a Senior Citizen Charlie, but I am a grandmother. I know laughter is the best medicine and I get my medicine every day reading your comments and your opinions.
Smile and get over it :)