Does Rep. Jim Hagedorn (R-MN) really represent his district?

By Leigh Pomeroy

"Inflation is impacting all Americans this holiday season due to Biden’s failed economic policies. But instead of addressing this crisis, the Democrats have decided to double down on their reckless Socialist spending spree." — Rep. Jim Hagedorn on Facebook (italics added)

Personally, I like Rep. Jim Hagedorn. We've had a couple of brief conversations. He is affable. He smiles. He's a good presenter. And I think he admirably represents a certain population of the congressional district he currently serves.

But that population is not all of us. Nor is it most of us. Rather, his constituency is mostly conservative Republicans and followers of former President Trump, the total of which are not the majority of the diverse Minnesota Congressional District 1.

The current makeup of the district, which will undoubtedly change when the court-appointed panel of judges determines the new boundaries, is roughly one-third DFL, one-third Republican and one-third independent ("neither of the above"). But many voters, perhaps more than half, vote for the individual rather than the candidate of the party. Minnesota voters are noted for crossing party lines to vote for the candidate they truly like.

Because I find Rep. Hagedorn a pleasant person is why I'm dismayed at many of his communications and most of his stances. For example, he wants to portray everything that President Biden and the Democrats want to do as "socialist" rather than explain honestly his point of view on what's best for the district.

A reminder that the November jobs report was the worst jobs report of Biden’s presidency. The Democrats’ Socialist agenda has created a severe economic crisis that is directly impacting ALL Americans. — Rep. Jim Hagedorn on Facebook (italics added)

I'm not sure Rep. Hagedorn knows what the terms "socialist" and "socialism" mean. The technical definition of socialism is when the state or government owns or controls the services and the means of production.

We know that pure socialism doesn't work, as evidenced by the fall of the Soviet Union and the terrible economic and human failures under Mao Tse-Tung's China.

Today's western democracies balance a combination of government-provided — i.e., socialist — services with a market economy. In the U.S., these government-provided services include police and fire protection; water, sewer and garbage collection systems; public schools, universities and libraries; many hospitals and healthcare clinics; Medicare, Medicaid, veterans' healthcare and Social Security; flu and Covid vaccinations; and farm subsidies, crop insurance and disaster support.

The reason why we provide these services as a public service, through various levels of government, is because we've found it's more humane and efficient to do so rather than through the for-profit markets.

An example of the for-profit system not working: Most people don't know that at one time individuals and businesses contracted with private firefighting companies for protection much as the way we buy personal home or car insurance today. After a number of major fires, we learned this system was a failure.

Today, Congressman Jim Hagedorn (MN-01) released the following statement rejecting a measure to raise the national debt ceiling by $2.5 trillion to pay for Biden’s “Build Back Better Act,” which is filled with Far-Left Socialist policies. — Rep. Jim Hagedorn on his congressional website (italics added)

Thus, it is disingenuous, even dishonest, when politicians apply the terms "socialist" or "socialism" to policies they don't like, but overlook socialist policies they do. For example, you never hear Rep. Hagedorn criticize government subsidized crop insurance, price supports and farm disaster aid. And he is a strong supporter of fire and police departments.

Rep. Hagedorn advocates for keeping energy prices down and has voted to maintain government subsidies and favorable tax policies for oil, gas and coal producers. These subsidies come out of Minnesota taxpayer pockets in terms of higher taxes. In turn, these policies allow oil, gas and coal companies to pay lower taxes. But Minnesota produces no oil, gas or coal. Instead, the state produces energy from wind, solar and biomass. Incentivizing the production of these renewable clean energy resources, which provide jobs for Minnesota workers and income for Minnesota companies and are better for the environment, is where he should focus his energies.

If Rep. Hagedorn wants to be reelected, he must first, do more to represent all the people of his district, not just a few. Second, he should stop the hypocrisy of labeling government programs he doesn't like as socialist while overlooking socialist programs he does like. Third, he should stop voting for policies and programs that provide benefit to those outside Minnesota and instead vote for the interests of those within his own state.

To me, following these suggestions would be a simple recipe for reelection. But will he do so?

That's up for him to decide.

Leigh Pomeroy was the Democratic-Farmer-Labor (DFL) candidate for Minnesota Congressional District 1 Representative in 2004.