What About Rick Santorum, Anyway?
COMMENTARY | With former Senator Rick Santorum the current front-runner to be the great right hope against Mitt Romney, it might be a useful exercise to find out what he proposes to do as president. Fortunately he has laid that out in detail.
According to the section on his campaign website on spending and entitlement reform, Santorum proposes to cut $5 trillion from the federal budget over the first five years of his administration. He would repeal Obamacare, reform entitlements, freeze both social spending and defense spending, and implement a variety of reforms suggested by conservative think tanks such as the Heritage Foundation and CATO, among others.
Santorum would enact a variety of tax cuts, with just two personal income tax rates, 10 percent and 28 percent. Capital gains and the corporate income tax would be decreased as well. There would be tax breaks for families and to spur economic growth.
Santorum would behave more aggressively against America's enemies than the current occupant of the Oval Office. His 10-step plan to promote American interests around the world has, included in it, an initiative to "restore the teaching of America's history" in public schools, the theory being that a well informed citizenry is a patriotic citizenry.
Santorum is pro-life, anti-gay marriage, pro-Second Amendment. He supports a rollback of regulations, a Balanced Budget Amendment, and market-oriented health care reform.
To sum up, Santorum, at least according to the issues section of his campaign website, is a pretty conventional conservative. There are some things in his agenda to quibble about -- this writer does not like the idea of freezing defense -- but by and large there is much to like a little if anything to be appalled about.
In making the support/oppose decision in regards to Santorum, one has to look at his record in the Senate, including the fact that he was defeated for re-election by a wide margin, and his public statements. One should note that he has committed no obvious gaffes and has done well in debates. One also has to compare him to the field as it is and not to one's image of the perfect Republican candidate who never did and never could walk the Earth.
The preliminary conclusion is that, on balance, Republicans could do much worse than nominating Santorum.
Sources:Spending Cuts and Entitlements Reform, Rick Santorum Campaign Site
Defender of the Taxpayer, Rick Santorum Campaign Site
10 Steps to Promote Our Interests Around the World, Rick Santorum Campaign Site
Published by Mark Whittington
Mark R. Whittington is a writer residing in Houston, Texas. He is the author of The Last Moonwalker, Children of Apollo, Dark Sanction, and Nocturne. He has written numerous articles, some for the Washington... View profile
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1 Comments
Post a CommentI HAVE A LITTLE TO SAY ABOUT RICK . THE LAST OF THE BREED IS HE ?? THE RUGGED SALT OF THE EARTH . THE BREED OF WHAT ?? THE GRANDSON OF A COAL MINER . THE MINES HE HIMSELF NEVER WENT NEAR . NEVER EVEN ON SUMMER EMPLOYMENT DID HE GO NEAR A MINE OR WOODS CREW. HE WORKED HARD AT CHEATING HIS WAY THROUGH SCHOOL . DID HE PAY HIS WAY WITH WORK OR LOANS AND GRANTS RICK ?? HE WAS VERY SUCCESSFUL IN DESTROYING THE MINING AND STEEL INDUSTRIES IN PA. THE VERY BACKBONE OF THE ECONOMY IN WESTERN PA. RICK DID WELL FOR HIMSELF IN THE PROCESS OF MAINLINE INDUSTRIAL DESTRUCTION .RICK PROFITED MIGHTHLY FROM HIS GRAFT AND FAVORITISM . THE STATE OF WESTERN PA HAS BEEN LAID WASTED FROM RICKS MISMANAGEMENT AND NEGLIGENCE DURING HIS TENURE IN THE SENATE.
AN OTHER FRUAD AND SHOWMAN ? AN OTHER ARTIFICAL POST RECREATION LIKE RONALD REAGAN ? AN OTHER JOHN WAYNE OF THE IMAGINATION . BE IT NOTED THAT JOHN WAYNE NEVER SERVED IN A COMBAT WAR IN HIS LIFETIME. REAGAN WAS A FRAUD AND AN INCOMPETANT FROM THE WORD GO. HE LAID THE TEMPLATE FOR THE DESTRUCTION OF NATION VIA HIS PROTOTYPE OF CALIFORNIAS EXPERIENCED DISASTER.
NEED MORE ??? THEN HERE IS A SMALL TIDBIT TO CHEW ON . THIS IS HOW PA. REALLY WORKS . FIND OUT WHO ORDERED JOE PATERNOS MURDER FROM AMONG THE ADMINISTRATORS AT PENN STATE - STATE COLLEGE , PA.