Trick Santorum

Since the time of Thomas Jefferson and the founders, Liberty has been the bedrock upon which this country stands. Ronald Reagan said, "I believe the very heart and soul of conservatism is libertarianism."¹ Jim DeMint, respected as one of the most conservative Senators in Washington, says that libertarians are the "conscience" of conservatism.²

Former Senator and GOP Presidential candidate Rick Santorum says, "I fight very strongly against libertarian influence in the Republican party and the conservative movement."³ Wait... what? That would mean, in the traditional sense, that Santorum doesn't want the conservative movement to have a heart, soul or conscience. What does a conservative movement look like without a heart, soul or conscience? One could posit that 1930s Germany somewhat fits that description.

But that's not all. If offending the GOP's 'heart, soul and conscience' isn't enough, let's look at a few traditional conservative issues that Mr. Santorum speaks about and how his record stands up to scrutiny:

Santorum claims to have a consistent track record on abortion, yet, when he ran in 1990, he called himself a "progressive Republican" who said, and I quote, "I tried as much as I could to dance around the issue, not really take a position on it."⁴ This is the man who self-righteously attacked Ron Paul's stance that the states could make abortion illegal immediately, as they do with all murder, if the Federal Government would get out the way.

Let's get real. Ron Paul was writing pro-life books when little Ricky wasn't sure how babies were made and was a pro-life champion while Santorum was 'dancing around the issue'. Santorum implies that if we give the Federal Government enough time, it will somehow outlaw abortion, even though the Republican Revolution in the '90s and the full Republican control of the House, Senate and White House didn't do it in the early 2000s.

Santorum voted against the right of the people of America to work without joining a union.⁵ He claims he voted that way because he was "representing Pennsylvania", and that he supports the right to work. So, I guess Rick thinks people don't deserve the right to work if the majority in his state thinks it is ok to take away their right to work. Who else might he think does not deserve the right to work and what would he do if the majority decided to take away other rights?

Santorum makes broad claims about the 2nd Amendment and makes implications that others don't support it as well as he does. Yet, as a Senator, he voted to make it illegal to buy a gun unless you have a government approved storage or safety device. That's the kind of typical liberal nanny-state legislation that a conservative wouldn't let slide.⁶

Fiscally, it is astounding that he considers himself a conservative.

• In just two years, 2003-04, he cosponsored 51 Bills to increase spending.⁷
• Voted for No Child Left Behind.⁸
• Voted to raise the minimum wage MULTIPLE times.⁹
• Voted for the Bridge to Nowhere.¹⁰
• Voted to raise his own pay three times.¹¹
• Voted to raise the debt ceiling five times!¹²

Rick Santorum is a typical double-speaking, rhetoric-spewing bureaucrat. He is just like the career politicians the Tea Party was protesting. Luckily for him, he was ousted in 2006, a year before the Tea Party protests began, or else he would have had to answer for his inconsistencies back then. It is doubtful that he would have had any real support if he had remained in office and might have been in the sights to be ousted, had he been re-elected in 2006.

Santorum: a conservative? A little, mostly in social rhetoric. Consistent? No. Honest? No. Electable? Definitely NOT.

SOURCES:
1. http://reason.com/archives/1975/07/01/inside-ronald-reagan/

2. Fox Business Channel 1/18/2012 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8orjjOIZldk

3. http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=vLQnoVpkyqc

4. http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=_t4cAAAAIBAJ&sjid=3GMEAAAAIBAJ&dq=santorum%20progressive&pg=6015%2C5485825

5. http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=104&session=2&vote=00188

6. http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=109&session=1&vote=00207

7.Club for Growth, 2012 Presidential White Paper #4, Former Senator Rick Santorum

8. http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=107&session=1&vote=00192

9. http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=104&session=2&vote=00058

http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=109&session=1&vote=00027

http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=109&session=1&vote=00257

http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=109&session=1&vote=00258

http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=109&session=2&vote=00180

10. http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=109&session=1&vote=00264

11. Club for Growth, 2012 Presidential White Paper #4, Former Senator Rick Santorum

12. H.R. 2015, Roll Call Vote #209, 7/31/97; S. 2578, Roll Call Vote #148, 6/11/02; H. J. Res. 51, Roll Call Vote #202, 5/23/03; S. 2986, Roll Call Vote #213, 11/17/04; H. J. Res. 47, Roll Call Vote #54, 3/16/06; Mindy R. Leavit, “The Debt Limit: History and Recent Increases,” Congressional Research Service, 9/9/11