Even before Tom Emmer was elected to Congress in 2014, A. Jeanene Kern was against the Delano Republican. Since he's lived up to her expectations, she's challenging freshman lawmaker for the Republican endorsement in Minnesota's Sixth Congressional District.
In GOP endorsements were bad choices, Kern blasted Emmer as a candidate before the August 2014 primary:
6th District seat
Earlier this year, Bachmann endorsed Emmer as her successor. Bachmann, who recruited Emmer for his unsuccessful gubernatorial run, stated in a Minnesota Public Radio piece, “Tom Emmer is so reflective of this district.”
Reflective of the Republican establishment or reflective of the citizens?
Emmer’s state convention speech included a phrase of admonishment I first heard during the Benton County convention. “We must stop the circular firing squads!” Please, allow me to translate: “There is no room for legitimate challenges from GOP opponents on my record!”
If a candidate’s record can’t survive friendly fire, it will not survive a DFL firing squad. The DFL will dust off old Emmer DWI ads, remind voters he voted against benefits to I-35W bridge collapse survivors, and, as a legislator, opposed a moratorium on new cancer radiation clinics but later as a lobbyist supported the moratorium.
Emmer is endorsed by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, an organization supporting federal takeover of education through Common Core and a Senate immigration bill increasing low-skilled immigrant workers while failing to secure U.S. borders.
Despite the 2012 Republican national platform opposing the National Popular Vote — “An unconstitutional effort to impose ‘national popular vote’ would be a mortal threat to our federal system and a guarantee of corruption as every ballot box in every state would become a chance to steal the presidency” — Emmer pushed NPV. As a Delano City Council member, Emmer voted to raise property taxes by 16 percent.
Conversely, Anoka County board Chairwoman Rhonda Sivarajah, endorsed by VOICES of Conservative Women, lowered taxes and downsized government. Sivarajah reduced Anoka County’s net property tax by $11 million and county debt by about $30 million, and she voted to repeal the county’s wheelage tax.
I support Sivarajah in the 6th District and state Rep. Jim Abler for U.S. Senate. I will not abandon my conservative principles no matter what the Republican establishment wants.
This is the opinion of Sauk Rapids resident A.J. Kern, who spoke on behalf of Chris Dahlberg during the convention process.
Emmer won the primary with 73.30 percent of the vote, then took the district with 56.29 percent over the vote in a three-way race in the general election.
The letter is a bit of a marvel, in that Kern stresses lowering taxes, but supports Jim Abeler, who was one of the "Override Six," state representatives who voted to override former Governor Tim Pawlenty's veto of a gas tax in 2008.
Repeating herself in 2016
While Kern announced her intention to challenge Emmer at the "Shariah 101" invitation-only event in St Cloud last week, the news was made public originally in a January 31 post on the Central Minnesota Tea Party blog, AJ Kern to Seek Emmer’s Position:
AJ Kern announced on Tuesday night at Michaels Restaurant that she was soon to officially announce that she was planning to seek Tom Emmer’s spot as the Congressperson from Central Minnesota. ..This news was met with enthusiastic applause from the attendees in the packed restaurant gathered there to hear a presentation by Dr. Jeff Baumann on Shariah 101.(shariah101@
linkedresources.com) . . . AJ would make an excellent candidate and even more excellent Representative. Please support her candidacy.
Many of us feel Tom Emmer is just not representing his constituencey especially in the St. Cloud and Central Mn area.
However, the fact that we aren’t remaining silent while we see an influx of refugees that haven’t been vetted by our own government (the U.S. relies on the U.N. There isn’t a data base for refugees from war torn terrorist hotbed Syria. Is Somalia any different?)… More refugees are expected this year; poverty has risen over 23 percent and rental property has risen over 66 percent within the last decade in the St Cloud area; the 6th congressional district is not only importing more democrat voters but, contains the city with the highest crime per capita… Waite Park; Stearns County moves refugee services around from one department to another and uses different accounting systems so it is not transparent and accountable to the taxpayers.
Responding to the corporate lobbyist bribes and Chamber of Commerce who want cheap labor (and push Common Core)… Our government is importing cheap foreign labor for the meat packing industry and other businesses… artificially keeping wages low. Now, we’re seeing seasonal workers (H-2B visa workers) being brought in to replace the low wage muslim worker. This will result in an even higher reliance on welfare subsidies and county services.
The St Cloud area, as well as other areas in Minnesota, are in a death cycle. The growing numbers of English language learners (costing well over $3 million in St Cloud district), school performance declines which affects housing values because folks looking to purchase a house want it in a district with good schools, now witnessing ‘white flight’… affecting the increase in rental housing, increase in crime… higher demands on school, police, city and county services.
All without consulting us, without inviting us to the conversation… without our consent.
While we give billions to 96 percent of other countries around the world, we are not getting the bang for our buck. We cannot solve Somalia’s or Syria’s problems from central Minnesota. Americans cannot continue to be responsible for solving the centuries old problems of other countries. If you continue to import a third world culture… you begin to look like a third world culture. Immigration should benefit Americans. We have a right to protect our culture and our communities.
Relying on the power much greater than ourselves… we are making a difference.
AJ Kern
While the post appears to be signed by AJ Kern, it's difficult to discern where her voice begins in the text. Nonetheless, the anti-Chamber of Commerce, anti-immigrant talking points from 2014 emerge again in 2016.
For that, we turn to her final volunteer "Times Writers Group" column in the St. Cloud Times:
As the 2016 elections are critical in determining the future path of America, establishment Republicans across the country are being challenged by constitutional conservatives who are frustrated with the excuses and continued "business as usual" in Washington, D.C.
Establishment Republicans are just as culpable as President Obama and progressive Democrats in the expansion of the federal government’s unconstitutional overreaching authorities and debt, propelling America into a post-constitutional era.
We must not remain silent adhering to the status quo.
Therefore, I am announcing my challenge to Congressman Tom Emmer for Minnesota’s 6th District’s Republican endorsement for that U.S. House seat beginning with the March 1 caucus.
Emmer disregarded his oath of office — solemnly swearing to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States of America.
Emmer may be a conservative campaigner, but his voting record of growing government and spending shows otherwise. Conservative Review, a conservative organization tracking voting records, assigned Emmer an "F" on his failing liberty voting score.
Amnesty
Although Emmer claimed to be against amnesty for illegal immigrants, he voted along with 75 other Republicans and Obama’s Democrats to pass and fund the defunct Department of Homeland Security, which also funded Obama’s unconstitutional amnesty actions, violating existing border and immigration laws.
The push for new immigration laws, undoubtedly increasing both bureaucrats and budgets, isn’t what is required. The real issue is the executive branch of government purposely failing to enforce existing immigration laws and Congress failing to pull the proverbial purse strings.
In 2014, there were an estimated 11.3 million unauthorized immigrants in the United States. This number may not seem significant until considering legal and illegal immigrants make extensive use of the nation’s welfare system, often on behalf of their U.S. born children. According to the Center for Immigration Studies, 75 percent of immigrant households use one or more welfare programs.
We are importing an entire class of welfare recipients.
For a fact-checking of the Center for Immigration Studies' "welfare studies" from both the right and the left, we recommend Media Run With Discredited Nativist Group's Research To Claim More Than Half Of Immigrant Households Receive "Welfare"; More Questionable Research From The SPLC-Labeled Nativist Group, The Center For Immigration Studies.
Next, Kern rips into education:
Education
Despite the federal government having no constitutional authority to be involved in education, Emmer supported Every Student Succeeds Act, reauthorizing the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, and replacing No Child Left Behind.
Republicans supporting ESSA claim it will reduce the federal government’s interference, restore local control, and empower parents.
What’s ironic about that spin is Minnesota had a waiver to NCLB. (Think about that for a moment.) Minnesota received a NCLB waiver after it conveniently agreed to adopt federal Common Core English language arts.
A true restoration of local control would include voting against unconstitutional federal education laws and curriculum, and eliminating the U.S. Department of Education, giving constitutional authority back to the states and more importantly to parents where it belongs.
Export-Import Bank
Emmer did not support H.R. 597, a bill reauthorizing the Export-Import Bank, a quasi-governmental agency that provides subsidies to foreign companies buying American products.
However, Emmer later voted in favor of H.R. 22, a bill renewing a federal highway fund giving Republicans cover to also reauthorize the expired Export-Import Bank, embedded in the bill successfully avoiding a stand-alone bill.
Nothing says crony capitalism like the Export-Import bank providing a little help to their friends at a great risk to taxpayers.
Trade deals
Emmer voted in favor of the Trans-Pacific Authority, granting fast-track authority to the president, and he supports the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement.
Just shy of 6,000 pages deep, TPP is clearly not free-trade. It is controlled trade. TPP creates new environmental regulations, adopts rules for labor, rules for immigration and rules for every aspect of global commerce.
TPP also establishes a global regulatory structure, including an Investor-State Dispute Settlement, allowing multi-national corporations to challenge U.S. laws.
In other words, TPP is destructive to the sovereignty of the United States, pushing the American people into submission of global governance.
With the decision to challenge Emmer, I am no longer eligible to be a member of the St Cloud Times Writers Group.
May God bless America, granting restoration of the U.S. Constitution — which has provided the truest liberty, prosperity, individual rights and freedom ever realized by man.
This isn't Kern's first bid for elected office. She ran for the Sauk Rapids School Board in 2010, and came in fifth in a field of five:
|
Totals | Pct | Graph | |
| Nonpartisan | LORI SCHLIEN | 2789 | 16.32 |  |
| Nonpartisan | PHIL ROGHOLT | 3396 | 19.88 | |
| Nonpartisan | LISA J BRAUN | 4312 | 25.24 | |
| Nonpartisan | ROBYN L HOLTHAUS | 4201 | 24.59 | |
| Nonpartisan | A J KERN | 2251 | 13.18 | |
We'll have more about Kern's interesting views as we factcheck additional talking points.
Photo: A Jeanene Kern appearing on the Speechless cable access show.
If you appreciate Bluestem Prairie's reporting and original analysis, you can mail contributions (payable to Sally Jo Sorensen P.O. Box 108, Maynard MN 56260) or use the paypal button below:
Email subscribers can contribute via this link to paypal; use email sally.jo.sorensen at gmail.com as recipient.
Comments