The 2016 Presidential Candidates: Rick Santorum
Richard John "Rick" Santorum is a lawyer and Republican Party politician. He served as a United States Senator representing Pennsylvania from 1995 to 2007 where he was the Senate's third-ranking Republican. He ran as a candidate for the 2012 Republican Party presidential nomination, finishing second to the party's eventual nominee Mitt Romney. Santorum was born in Virginia on May 10, 1958 and was raised in Pennsylvania. He obtained an undergraduate degree from Pennsylvania State University, an M.B.A. from the University of Pittsburgh, and a J.D. from the Dickinson School of Law (now part of Penn State). He worked at the firm Kirkpatrick & Lockhart, where he met his wife Karen Garver. They married in 1990, and have had eight children, (one of whom died shortly after birth). Santorum was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives to represent Pennsylvania's 18th congressional district in 1990 and later became a member of a group dubbed the "Gang of Seven". He was elected as a United States Senator for Pennsylvania in 1994 and served two terms until losing his re-election bid in 2006. He is a practicing Catholic, and is a social conservative who opposes same-sex marriage and artificial birth control. While serving as a senator, Santorum was the author of what came to be known as the Santorum Amendment, which promoted the teaching of intelligent design.
After leaving the Senate, Santorum worked as a consultant, private-practice lawyer, and news contributor. On June 6, 2011, Santorum announced his run for the Republican nomination in the 2012 election. He suspended his campaign on April 10, 2012, after he had won 11 primaries and caucuses and received nearly 4 million votes.
Santorum announced his candidacy for the 2016 presidential election on May 27, 2015. He made the announcement in a speech given to workers at Penn United Technologies in Cabot, Pennsylvania. Penn United Technologies operate the plant where they manufacture equipment for the oil and gas industries. Employees have an ownership stake. The company's website says that it was founded as a “Christian company” and states “we exist to glorify God.”
Santorum has been considered a potential presidential candidate in 2016 since the suspension of his 2012 campaign. A Los Angeles Times article about Santorum's 2012 campaign suspension mentioned that his strong second-place showing in that election would bolster his efforts to get the nomination in 2016 or 2020. In an interview with Greta Van Susteren on Fox News on May 6, 2015, Santorum commented that he was the underdog in the 2012 election and that he would likely be the underdog again in the 2016 election, saying "We're very comfortable there. Unfortunately for Santorum, pundits predictions have not come true. He has been relegated to the second tier of candidates and is currently polling at under 1% in RealClearPolitics average of polls of the GOP race.
Following are some of Santorum's positions on the issues:
Abortion: Santorum considered himself pro-choice on abortion throughout his early life, but changed to a pro-life position by 1990 when he ran for Congress.
Health care: Santorum has said that he would repeal the Patient Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) and has compared it to apartheid in South Africa in a Mandela tribute speech.
LGBT issues: Santorum opposes same-sex marriage, and has said that the American public and their elected officials should decide on these "incredibly important moral issues", rather than the Supreme Court, which consists of "nine unelected, unaccountable judges." He once said that he favors having laws against polygamy, sodomy, and other actions "antithetical to a healthy, stable, traditional family", and compared homosexuality to bestiality. The remarks drew an angry response from sex advice columnist and gay rights activist Dan Savage, who launched a contest to coin a "santorum" neologism. Since 2004, the website Savage set up for the campaign has regularly been among the top search results for Santorum's surname, leading to what some commentators call "Santorum's Google problem". In September 2011, Santorum unsuccessfully requested that Google remove the content from its search engine index. In 2015, Santorum signed an online pledge vowing not to respect any law, including any decision by the United States Supreme Court, conferring legal recognition on same-sex marriage. In April 2015, Santorum stated on Hugh Hewitt's radio program that he would not attend a same-sex wedding, saying: "as a person of my faith, that would be something that would be a violation of my faith."
Contraception: Santorum has stated that he does not believe a "right to privacy" is part of the Constitution. He has called contraception "a license to do things in a sexual realm that is counter to how things are supposed to be."
Pornography: On his website, Santorum said that the "Obama Administration has turned a blind eye" to pornography, and has promised that things "will change under a Santorum Administration." On March 23, 2012, Santorum posted on his campaign website that there is "a wealth of research" demonstrating that pornography causes "profound brain changes" and widespread negative effects on children and adults, including "violence to women." He later said that "the Obama Department of Justice seems to favor pornographers over children and families," and that department's insufficiency to prosecute the porn industry "proves his point." He said that Obama has not put a priority on tackling the porn industry, therefore "putting children at risk as a result of that." Santorum said he would order his attorney general to "vigorously enforce" existing laws that "prohibit distribution of hardcore (obscene) pornography on the Internet, on cable/satellite TV, on hotel/motel TV, in retail shops and through the mail or by common carrier."
Death penalty: In March 2005, Santorum expressed misgivings about the death penalty in light of wrongly convicted individuals who were sentenced to death. He went on to say, "I agree with the Pope that in the civilized world the application of the death penalty should be limited. I would definitely agree with that. I would certainly suggest there probably should be some further limits on what we use it for."
Poverty: In Congress, Santorum supported efforts to fight global HIV/AIDS, provide assistance to orphans and vulnerable children in developing countries, combat genocide in Sudan, and offer third world debt relief. He supported home ownership tax credits, savings accounts for children, rewarding savings by low-income families, funding autism research, fighting tuberculosis, and providing housing for people with HIV/AIDS. He supported increased funding for Social Services Block Grants and organizations like Healthy Start and the Children's Aid Society, and financing community health centers.
Immigration: Santorum has called for more restrictions on family-based immigration after warning of a “flood of legal—not illegal—immigrants to our country”. He says that the influx of immigrants has hurt the economy and brought down the median income of American workers. He is opposed to amnesty for illegal immigrants. He supports the construction of a barrier along the U.S.–Mexican border, an increase in the number of border patrol agents on the border, and the stationing of National Guard troops along the border. He also believes that illegal immigrants should be deported immediately when they commit crimes, and that undocumented immigrants should not receive benefits from the government. He has said that English should be established as the national language in the United States. Santorum has said that his own family's history (his father immigrated to the U.S. from Italy) is an example of how to immigrate "the right way". At the 2015 Iowa Freedom Summit, Santorum stated that he believes that the volume of legal immigration into the United States is also too high. He said: "We also have a problem with legal immigration,” and stated that the number of immigrants lawfully entering the country was "affecting American workers," by taking jobs and lowering wages and he says that all "net new jobs" created in the United States economy since 2000 have gone to immigrants (both legal and illegal).
Social Security: In the past Santorum has supported the partial privatization of Social Security, and he has held forums across Pennsylvania on the topic.
Energy and environment: Santorum rejects the scientific opinion on climate change that stresses human causation for global warming, referring to it as "junk science". He calls global warming a "beautifully concocted scheme" by the political left and "an excuse for more government control of your life." He has said that he disagrees with Pope Francis on Francis' opinions of climate change, saying the Pope should "leave science to the scientists". He calls for a policy of "drill everywhere" for oil and that there is "enough oil, coal and natural gas to last for centuries".
Gun control: Santorum supports a citizen’s right to bear arms. He voted in favor of the 2005 Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act, a law which prevents civil suits from being brought against gun manufacturers for criminal acts perpetrated using their weapons.
Marijuana: Santorum is against the legalization of marijuana. He has voted for increased penalties and spending on drug control. As cannabis is illegal at the federal level, he believes that federal law should be enforced in Colorado.
Trade Policy: During his time in the Senate, Santorum's voting record was primarily pro-free trade and anti-subsidies.
After leaving the Senate, Santorum worked as a consultant, private-practice lawyer, and news contributor. On June 6, 2011, Santorum announced his run for the Republican nomination in the 2012 election. He suspended his campaign on April 10, 2012, after he had won 11 primaries and caucuses and received nearly 4 million votes.
Santorum announced his candidacy for the 2016 presidential election on May 27, 2015. He made the announcement in a speech given to workers at Penn United Technologies in Cabot, Pennsylvania. Penn United Technologies operate the plant where they manufacture equipment for the oil and gas industries. Employees have an ownership stake. The company's website says that it was founded as a “Christian company” and states “we exist to glorify God.”
Santorum has been considered a potential presidential candidate in 2016 since the suspension of his 2012 campaign. A Los Angeles Times article about Santorum's 2012 campaign suspension mentioned that his strong second-place showing in that election would bolster his efforts to get the nomination in 2016 or 2020. In an interview with Greta Van Susteren on Fox News on May 6, 2015, Santorum commented that he was the underdog in the 2012 election and that he would likely be the underdog again in the 2016 election, saying "We're very comfortable there. Unfortunately for Santorum, pundits predictions have not come true. He has been relegated to the second tier of candidates and is currently polling at under 1% in RealClearPolitics average of polls of the GOP race.
Following are some of Santorum's positions on the issues:
Abortion: Santorum considered himself pro-choice on abortion throughout his early life, but changed to a pro-life position by 1990 when he ran for Congress.
Health care: Santorum has said that he would repeal the Patient Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) and has compared it to apartheid in South Africa in a Mandela tribute speech.
LGBT issues: Santorum opposes same-sex marriage, and has said that the American public and their elected officials should decide on these "incredibly important moral issues", rather than the Supreme Court, which consists of "nine unelected, unaccountable judges." He once said that he favors having laws against polygamy, sodomy, and other actions "antithetical to a healthy, stable, traditional family", and compared homosexuality to bestiality. The remarks drew an angry response from sex advice columnist and gay rights activist Dan Savage, who launched a contest to coin a "santorum" neologism. Since 2004, the website Savage set up for the campaign has regularly been among the top search results for Santorum's surname, leading to what some commentators call "Santorum's Google problem". In September 2011, Santorum unsuccessfully requested that Google remove the content from its search engine index. In 2015, Santorum signed an online pledge vowing not to respect any law, including any decision by the United States Supreme Court, conferring legal recognition on same-sex marriage. In April 2015, Santorum stated on Hugh Hewitt's radio program that he would not attend a same-sex wedding, saying: "as a person of my faith, that would be something that would be a violation of my faith."
Contraception: Santorum has stated that he does not believe a "right to privacy" is part of the Constitution. He has called contraception "a license to do things in a sexual realm that is counter to how things are supposed to be."
Pornography: On his website, Santorum said that the "Obama Administration has turned a blind eye" to pornography, and has promised that things "will change under a Santorum Administration." On March 23, 2012, Santorum posted on his campaign website that there is "a wealth of research" demonstrating that pornography causes "profound brain changes" and widespread negative effects on children and adults, including "violence to women." He later said that "the Obama Department of Justice seems to favor pornographers over children and families," and that department's insufficiency to prosecute the porn industry "proves his point." He said that Obama has not put a priority on tackling the porn industry, therefore "putting children at risk as a result of that." Santorum said he would order his attorney general to "vigorously enforce" existing laws that "prohibit distribution of hardcore (obscene) pornography on the Internet, on cable/satellite TV, on hotel/motel TV, in retail shops and through the mail or by common carrier."
Death penalty: In March 2005, Santorum expressed misgivings about the death penalty in light of wrongly convicted individuals who were sentenced to death. He went on to say, "I agree with the Pope that in the civilized world the application of the death penalty should be limited. I would definitely agree with that. I would certainly suggest there probably should be some further limits on what we use it for."
Poverty: In Congress, Santorum supported efforts to fight global HIV/AIDS, provide assistance to orphans and vulnerable children in developing countries, combat genocide in Sudan, and offer third world debt relief. He supported home ownership tax credits, savings accounts for children, rewarding savings by low-income families, funding autism research, fighting tuberculosis, and providing housing for people with HIV/AIDS. He supported increased funding for Social Services Block Grants and organizations like Healthy Start and the Children's Aid Society, and financing community health centers.
Immigration: Santorum has called for more restrictions on family-based immigration after warning of a “flood of legal—not illegal—immigrants to our country”. He says that the influx of immigrants has hurt the economy and brought down the median income of American workers. He is opposed to amnesty for illegal immigrants. He supports the construction of a barrier along the U.S.–Mexican border, an increase in the number of border patrol agents on the border, and the stationing of National Guard troops along the border. He also believes that illegal immigrants should be deported immediately when they commit crimes, and that undocumented immigrants should not receive benefits from the government. He has said that English should be established as the national language in the United States. Santorum has said that his own family's history (his father immigrated to the U.S. from Italy) is an example of how to immigrate "the right way". At the 2015 Iowa Freedom Summit, Santorum stated that he believes that the volume of legal immigration into the United States is also too high. He said: "We also have a problem with legal immigration,” and stated that the number of immigrants lawfully entering the country was "affecting American workers," by taking jobs and lowering wages and he says that all "net new jobs" created in the United States economy since 2000 have gone to immigrants (both legal and illegal).
Social Security: In the past Santorum has supported the partial privatization of Social Security, and he has held forums across Pennsylvania on the topic.
Energy and environment: Santorum rejects the scientific opinion on climate change that stresses human causation for global warming, referring to it as "junk science". He calls global warming a "beautifully concocted scheme" by the political left and "an excuse for more government control of your life." He has said that he disagrees with Pope Francis on Francis' opinions of climate change, saying the Pope should "leave science to the scientists". He calls for a policy of "drill everywhere" for oil and that there is "enough oil, coal and natural gas to last for centuries".
Gun control: Santorum supports a citizen’s right to bear arms. He voted in favor of the 2005 Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act, a law which prevents civil suits from being brought against gun manufacturers for criminal acts perpetrated using their weapons.
Marijuana: Santorum is against the legalization of marijuana. He has voted for increased penalties and spending on drug control. As cannabis is illegal at the federal level, he believes that federal law should be enforced in Colorado.
Trade Policy: During his time in the Senate, Santorum's voting record was primarily pro-free trade and anti-subsidies.