A quickly assembled list by the often capable bloggers over at RedState outlines what appears to be a far more liberal version of Rick Santorum’s actual political record.
While Santorum remains the choice of social conservatives, the RedState piece does give one pause to reconsider Santorum’s conservative government street cred – especially given his aggressive challenges against Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich on those very grounds. That being said, I maintain that either Romney or Santorum or Gingrich are a vast improvement over the current White House occupant.
With that bit of disclaimer out of the way – here’s the list of Santorum’s alleged Big Government voting record – much of which I was not aware. Of particular interest are Santorum’s voting record on such critical issues involving Big Labor and taxes with votes against Right to Work (and for unions), voting in favor of allowing illegal immigrants to get the Earned Income Tax Credit, and voting for new Internet taxes. Hmmm…
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Voted for taxpayer funding of the National Endowment for the Arts. Voted against a 10% cut in the budget for National Endowment for the Arts.
Bankruptcy:
Voted for a Schumer amendment to make the debts of pro-life demonstrators not dischargeable in bankruptcy.
Defense and Foreign Policy:
Voted for the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC). Voted against requiring the President to certify that the CWC is effectively verifiable.
Voted against requiring the President to certify that that Iran, Iraq, Syria, Libya, North Korea, China, and all other countries determined to be state sponsors of terror have joined CWC prior to submitting the instrument of ratification.
Voted for the START II Treaty Voted to allow the sale of supercomputers to China. Voted to ban antipersonnel landmines Voted against increasing defense spending offset by equivalent cuts in non-defense spending. Voted to require that Federal bureaucrats get the same payraises as uniformed military. Voted to allow food and medicine sales to state sponsors of terror and tyrannical regimes such as Libya and Cuba. Voted to limit the President’s authority to impose sanctions on nations for reasons of national security unless the sanctions were approved by a multilateral regime. Voted against requiring Congressional authorization for military action in Bosnia. Voted to give $25 million in foreign aid to North Korea Voted to weaken alien terrorist deportation provisions. If the Court determines that the evidence must be withheld for national security reasons, the Justice Department must still provide a summary of the evidence sufficient for the alien terrorist to mount a defense against deportation. Voted against delaying the India Nuclear until the President certified that India had agreed to suspend military-to-military exchanges with Iran. Voted against the Conventional Trident Missile Program
Nominations:
Voted for Richard Paez to the 9th Curcuit (cloture) Voted for Sonia Sotomayor, Circuit Judge Voted for Richard Holbrooke to be Ambassador to the UN Voted for Margaret Morrow to be District Judge Voted twice for Marsha Berzon to the 9thg Circuit Voted for Mary McLaughlin to be District Judge Voted for Tim Dyk to be District Judge Voted for James Brady to be District Judge
Labor:
Voted against National Right to Work Act Voted against Real of Davis-Bacon Prevailing union wages Voted for Alexis Herman to be Secretary of Labor Voted for mandatory Federal child care funding Voted for Trade Adjustment Assistance. Voted for Job Corps funding Voted twice in support of Fedex Unionization Voted against allowing a waiver of Davis-Bacon in emergency situations. Voted for minimum wage increases six times here here here here here and here Voted to require a union representative on an IRS oversight board. Voted to exempt IRS union representative from criminal ethics laws. Voted against creating independent Board of Governors to investigate IRS abuses.
Guns:
Voted to require pawn shops to do background checks on people who pawn a gun. Voted twice to make it illegal to sell a gun without a secure storage or safety device Voted for a Federal ban on possession of “assault weapons” by those under 18. Voted for Federal funding for anti-gun education programs in schools. Voted for anti-gun juvenile justice bill.
Reform
Voted for funding for the legal services corporation. Voted twice for a Congressional payraise. Voted to impose a uniform Federal mandate on states to force them to allow convicted rapists, arsonists, drug kingpins, and all other ex-convicts to vote in Federal elections. Voted for the Specter “backup plan” to allow campaign finance reform to survive if portions of the bill were found unconstitutional. Voted to mandate discounted broadcast times for politicians. Voted for a McCain amendment to require State and local campaign committees to report all campaign contributions to the FEC and to require all campaign contributions to be reported to the FEC within 24 hours within 90 days of an election.
Immigration:
Voted against increasing the number of immigration investigators Voted to allow illegal immigrants to receive the earned income credit before becoming citizens Voted to give SSI benefits to legal aliens. Voted to give welfare benefits to naturalized citizens without regard to to the earnings of their sponsors. Voted against hiring an additional 1,000 border patrol agents, paid for by reductions in state grants.
Taxes:
Voted against a flat tax. Voted to increase tobacco taxes to pay for Medicare prescription drugs Voted to increase tobacco taxes to fund health insurance subsidies for small businesses. Voted to increase tobacco taxes to pay for an $8 billion increase in child health insurance. Voted to increase tobacco taxes to pay for an increase in NIH funding. Voted twice for Internet taxes. Voted to allow gas tax revenues to be used to subsidize Amtrak. Voted to strike marriage penalty tax relief and instead provide fines on tobacco companies. Voted against repealing the Clinton 4.3 cent gas tax increase. Voted to increase taxes by $2.3 billion to pay for an Amtrak trust fund. Voted to allow welfare to a minor who had a child out of wedlock and who resided with an adult who was on welfare within the previous two years. Voted to increase taxes by $9.4 billion to pay for a $9.4 billion increase in student loans. Voted to say that AMT patch is more important than capital gains and dividend relief.
Welfare:
Voted against food stamp reform Voted against Medicaid reform Voted against TANF reform Voted to increase the Social Services Block Grant from $1 billion to $2 billion Voted to increase the FHA loan from $170,000 to $197,000. Also opposed increasing GNMA guaranty from 6 basis points to 12. Voted for $2 billion for low income heating assistance.
Waste:
Sponsored An amendment to increase Amtrak funds by $550 million Voted to use HUD funds for the Joslyn Art Museum (NE), the Stand Up for Animals project (RI) and the Seattle Art Museum’s Olympic Sculpture Project (WA) Voted to increase spending on social programs by $7 billion Voted to increase NIH funding by $1.6 billion. Voted to increase NIHnding by $700 million Voted to for a $2 million earmark to renovate the Vulcan Monument (AL) Voted for a $1 billion bailout for the steel industry Voted against requiring that highway earmarks would come out of a state’s highway allocation Voted to allow Market Access Program funds to go to foreign companies. Voted to allow OPIC to increase its administrative costs by 50% Voted against transferring $20 million from Americorps to veterans. Voted for the $140 billion asbestos compensation bill. Voted against requiring a uniform medical criteria to ensure asbestos claims were legitimate. Voted to increase community development programs by $2 billion.
Spending and Entitlements:
Voted to make Medicare part B premium subsidies an new entitlement. Voted against paying off the debt ($5.6 trillion at the time) within 30 years. Voted to give $18 billion to the IMF. Voted to raid Social Security instead of using surpluses to pay down the debt.
Health Care:
Voted to allow states to impose health care mandates that are stricter than proposed new Federal mandates, but not weaker. Voted twice for Federal mental health parity mandates in health insurance. Voted against a allow consumers the option to purchase a plan outside the parity mandate.
Education Voted to increase Federal funding for teacher testing Voted to increase spending for the Department of Education by $3.1 billion. Voted against requiring courts to consider the impact of IDEA awards on a local school district.
Energy
Voted to allow the President to designate certain sites as interim nuclear waste storage sites in the event that he determines that Yucca Mountain is not a suitable site for a permanent waste repository. Those sites are as follows: the nuclear waste site in Hanford, Washington; the Savannah River Site in South Carolina; Barnwell County, South Carolina; and the Oak Ridge Reservation in Tennessee.
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Ulsterman, your readers may be interested in knowing that the author of the RedState article also said, “I would support him [Santorum] before I would support Romney…”
He even goes on to say that Santorum is, in fact, a conservative; but, in effect, also seems to be saying he’s just not as conservative as most of us might wish him to be. Therefore, I do not believe he was offering the information to convince anyone not to vote for Santorum (as you seem to be doing…); but, rather to set the record straight as to the fact that NONE of the current candidates are the best that America has to offer.
See http://www.redstate.com/erick/2012/01/09/what-a-big-government-conservative-looks-like-2/
OMG! We have to pick SOMEBODY! When are we going to stop picking these people apart thread by thread, Hmmm?? We know that many, if not all bills contain many elements, and a vote for or against the bill is not strictly an endorsement of all those elements. Bills are never single issue. They bury stuff in there that they hope gets passed if the main issue is important to enough congress critters. We don’t know the details of these votes. Stop attacking our guys and go for Obama’s throat instead!
Agreed!
Then of course you have the DNC ready with “The Olympics Bailout” and such like.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qY29UIpGhAs&feature=g-logo&context=G2c95f38FOAAAAAAAIAA
So, yeah, well, Barry Goldwater has gone to his reward. Sarah Palin isn’t running (alas); neither is Marco Rubio (alas and alack), or Allen West, or Rush, or ….
Brokered convention, baby!
Agree with KNap.
There are so many items crammed into a bill, does anyone really know what they are voting for or against? Just look at The Affordable Care Act. Did we get a can of worms with that, too? That one had to pass before anyone knew what was in it, thanks to Nancy. Have we maligned all those who voted for or against that one yet?
A handful of semi-conservative Republican candidates are 1000 times better than one corrupt Democrat/Marxist. To think, Barry was only present for most of his votes. No one mentions that.
I just wish they would stop tearing each other apart on voting records, past records, personal history, religious issues and family values. All of that pales in comparison to the Occupier who has destroyed our economy, ruined foreign relations with allies, courted the Muslim Brotherhood, engaged in a non-war with Libya while leaving the Syrians to die by the sword of an evil tyrant, turned a deaf ear and blind eye to Iran, circumvented the US Constitution, corrupted the political system of this country through campaign financing, divide this country by political parties, religion, gender and race, and so on and so on, ad infinitum. Those are the issues these candidates must battle against, not each other. It may boil down to a personality contest anyway.
I would like to base my vote on which candidate has the best plan for beating Obama and putting his sorry boney ass behind bars…along with his corrupt AG. I’d like to know what their plans are for recovering this economy, re-establishing foreign policy against Al-Qaeda, Hezbollah, and the Muslim Brotherhood and repairing tattered relationships with our allies. How do they plan to rebuild bi-partisanship relations in Congress? I want an assurance that Holder will get his due justice and that the corruption will be halted and offenders will be indicted and prosecuted. I want reassurance that the government of this country abides by the laws set forth in the Constitution and that all of Barry’s mandates and executive orders be overturned. Is that too much to ask?
Why vet the republican candidates to the point of a witch hunt and character assassination when nothing close to that happened towards Obama and no one cried foul?
Please don’t compare apples and oranges. We’ve had a fruit in the WH for 3 years. It’s time to skip the appetizers and go for the meat and potato issues about this election.
Like Santorum. Will vote for him in the primary.
This kind of nonsense is only going to get worse after we have a nominee for Obama to tare down. We are the people voting and no matter who the Republican candidate is he will be better than the Socialist, Marxist, Islamic usurper in the White House.
Thank you, TtLG. All that needs to be said, repeatedly if necessary.
I think most of the tearing down, among Republicans, is coming from pro-Mittens people while Newt and Santorum have to defend themselves from within as much as from the nest of vipers that is the Obamunista regime, whose absolute corruption, I fear will never get the recognition it so richly deserves.
Daley fired because just like with boney’s gay history olympics the Beard (Michelle) and the Brain (Valerie) are committed Maoists and are so blind as to think abortion is a political winner. Not according to CNN poll, showing the NWO ZPG Agenda 21 plot for anyone with a working brain to see. Obama and his controllers in the media having been plotting to make Romney the nominee because they know he would lose to Obama. I have been working to provoke this reaction by calling her a certain movie character created by the bankers in Gone with the Wind and the like to keep us in an infantile reactive state. The only way to the defeat the Marxist is head on. Mitt is a Richie Rich daddy’s boy trying to buy the office with money from this Wall Street masters, who would lose to Obama just like McCain took a dive for him 3 1/2 years ago. The left is schizoid now because Obama can’t keep his wife and brain under control. Best outcome is for Santorum to take out Gingrich and Romney in the next coupe of weeks. The it will be a two man race between Santorum and Paul. Either one would beat Obama. But only Ron Paul will fix the mess right. Santorum would at least not be as deeply in Wall Street’s pocket as Obama or Obama Lite, aka Romney.
Well we all agree here. Romney is not a winner but if the Establishment destroys the rest of the pack we better make him one, or may God have mercy on our souls.
@JIMBO “Brokered convention, baby!”
Sarah says she’s “ready” if that happens (I heard her say it Friday night). Also, “Palin 2012″ bumper stickers are coming out… I receive an online newsletter that is offering one bumper sticker for free and you can buy more at a very small cost. (Info purposes only, not trying to sell anything here.)
All I can say is that I will back the Republican candidate no matter who it is and just hope that person is prepared to openly and thoroughly “vet” Obama, tear him down to the ground! As you probably all know, that didn’t happen in 2008 because of the “race card” and the Obama camp is going to double-down on that one this time around. Whoever the Republican candidate, they can’t let the Chicago thugs get away with it this time.
kNAP and TTLG, great posts from both of you!
When Obama is re elected you can thank Sarah, Figgy Newt and righteous Ricky. Enjoy the fruits of your labor.
How do you figure that? If little Barry foo-foo is re-elected, there be loads of apologies to Sarah, Newt, Santorum et al.
What do you mean by, “…the fruits of your labor” anyway?
Good luck with that propaganda. Those of us out here in Flyover Country see thru that drivel and will be working hard to awaken our brain-washed Brothers and Sisters on each Coast about who this Occupier (thanks for that reference) really is. The movement to expose his unConstitutional Marxist actions and remove these union-backed thugs from office is just gearing up. I realize that this will mean more Media Matters attacks, greater Internet control and an even stronger attempt to implement the Agenda 21 Initiative, but we are on to those actions, too. The sleeping majority is not only awakening but “they” are madder than hell and won’t take any more anti-American tyranny. Sure, it is overwhelming, but there are plenty of Americans organizing to put Humpty Dumpty back together again. (and I’m not talking Chris Christie! Heh).
Damn the torpedoes… Full speed ahead!
The baggage of all the GOP illustrate how few decent people there really are who will run for public office. That’s the shame of it. Our Founders built a nation on Judeo-Christian principles and said the Constitution would NOT work without a religious and moral populace. So everyone who thinks morals don’t matter in a candidate/election need to rethink it. Morality, specifically the lack of it, can be tied into EVERY issue facing our country today.
Have you seen how the Establishment sites always have a sneering comeback at the ready when they quote Sarah and her take on a brokered convention? While they tell you it will never happen in a million years, they then switch to their pick for a brokered convention: Jeb Bush.
It’s time to take America back and Palin is the ONLY person with the decency and integrity to do it. Keep buying into the LEFT’S “electability” meme. I’m beyond that — as are Rush and Levin.
Whenever the left starts tearing down candidates, it convinces me that there is a reason they want Slick Mitty to be the candidate. I have a gut feeling that the Repub Old Guard elites have brokered a ‘Deal” with the Dems. Look how Boehner and Mitch MCconnell have bent over for Obama and Reid. Have you listened to Rush. The elites HATE the Tea Party and the Fly Over Repubs. They see us as ‘hayseeds’ and the ‘unwashed rabble’. Why is it that the elite Repubs AND the Marxists Media, and the Dems are rooting for Slick Mitty? He’s NOT more electable…he’s just the darling of the country club set…remember, they HATED Ronald Reagan also!
Remember 2008? Romney lost to McCain who then lost to Obama so why would Romney be the best choice to run against Obama today?
Go Santorum 2012!
Because the left managed Romney’s primary loss in ’08 with cross over voters in semi open primaries…which is why the Dems changed Michigan for this primary to semi open…that means Dems (union voters) can vote GOP in the primary and then go back to voting Dem in the general election.
Pay attention to who their governors were and are as well as their legislators. Michigan under their last Dem governor…the progressive Granholm… has now become a semi-open primary for the sole purpose of destroying Romney…which is why the meme…” if Romney looses Michigan he should get out” ….
And you should be equally suspicious of Gingrich…. historically progressive, whose oft mentioned favourite president is FDR…. and his motives…
Hillary and Obama may not be the only progressive horses in Soros’ stalls…
Think. Be suspicious…you have every reason to be…
Palin has been vetted. Santorum, like Newt and Mitt, have now been torn to shreds – though Mitt certainly had a hand in the initiation of the carnage. I still like Newt – but Palin or Santorum are high on my list in a brokered convention.
Romney does not interest me – not with his support of Geithner and the NDAA, and his persistent inability to correct his earlier mistakes with an admission that he was wrong. We tend to forgive the repentant, but we don’t extend the same to the arrogant.
I admire Sarah in so many ways and would love to see her beat Obama… this time she wouldn’t have the McCain camp holding her back… and she would be a great President IMHO. Santorum doesn’t have the spunk that Sarah does and I’m not convinced that he is a fiscal conservative even though he is a social conservative (which kind of works against him at times).
Bottom line, however, I’ll back and vote for ANYONE but Obama. Our country won’t survive if he’s re-elected!!!!! I’m not even sure we will survive unless he’s removed from office before the election… everytime I see Obama or hear him speak, I sense an aura of evil. I don’t think I’m alone in this either.
Forgot to mention, I haven’t given up on Newt either.
You should.
What gets me with Mitt is this aura of arrogance that he seems to say: I want it and it’s my turn cause I have the most money. I think his ad campaigns have been ruthless and every bit as negative as any that Obama has done in the past and likely to do this fall. His ads (or his PAC ads) attack and denigrate, on character and record–not on policy or substance. I’m sick of the entitled elite. I’d much rather vote for someone who is the complete antithesis of Barry. Too much about Mitt is not!
How will you feel about Obama’s billion dollar campaign? How do you feel about Obama’s arrogance? Do you actually believe anyone will be able to compete with the ruthless campaign of Obama? The meme that Romney is running a tough dirty campaign is utterly pathetic…do you prefer – “We want a weak patsy, but positive choir boy”?That is a real looser.
If Santoum is the candidate Obama gets to manage the national discussion and make it about contraception and abortion…and you are playinging right into Obama’s Marxist hands.
If Romney is the candidate the national discussion will be about the economy and the false job numbers Obama is trying to scam the people with… A discussion Obama is managing not to have at the moment.
It is almost unimaginable in light of the flailing choked economy, the outrageous spending, the stunning loss of the AAA rating, the foreclosure rate and housing market collapse, the loss of liberties, the corruption at Holder’s Justice Department, the actual jobless number of 19%, the corruption of ACORN, the fire lit in Arab takeover by the Muslim Brotherhood, the incredible corruption of billions upon billions paid off to Obama’s supporters through Solyndra and Lightbridge, the power brokering of Unions and their payoff, the dessimation of the military….in light of these many issues impacting Obama’s Amerika – and yet the national discussion is about reproductive rights??!!
You are playing into Obama’s hands and if you note the Sunday news and the discussions revolving around reproductive healthcare you will see Obama’s numbers rise over this false argument….Yet you are seeing Santorum speak about pre-natal testing as “something he knows about”…Unfortunatly Santorum has opened that can of worms and also joined the class warfare band wagon….all a looser for removing Obama.
Wake up. You are being played as should be noted by a gleeful press….these discussions to support Santorum are being led by tha deliriously delighted White House.
And you are being too hard on TtLG, who we know is most definitely not pro-Obama and is not, “playing right into [his] hands.”
If Santorum is the GOP candidate, it does not necessarily follow that the discussion will be about contraception and abortion, though the Lame Streem will certainly try to make it so.
Don’t fear conservatism.
Clarence Feldman in The American Thinker covers the coercive power of Obama in this piece…likening him to Hitler.
QUOTE AtheB~ “If Santoum is the candidate Obama gets to manage the national discussion and make it about contraception and abortion…and you are playinging right into Obama’s Marxist hands.
If Romney is the candidate the national discussion will be about the economy and the false job numbers Obama is trying to scam the people with… A discussion Obama is managing not to have at the moment.”
Kay~~ I’m of the opinion the election would be more complicated than the narrative you are spinning, AtheB. However, the media and Obama would like this election to be as you stated.
It is quite evident, particularly over the last three years, that those on the left have been steadily trying to acclimate us to living in a totalitarian police state – in big ways and small. It ranges from arresting Amish farmers for selling milk, closing down little girls’ lemonade stands, and confiscating a kindergartner’s home-packed lunch to the gropings of the TSA, forcing religious institutions to buckle under against their conscience, and their never-ending attempts to overturn the 2nd amendment. The left embraces the state as the sole practitioner of coercive power with a religious fervor. And their state is a jealous god that brooks no competition or nonconformity with its dictates. After the long line of totalitarian rulers in the 20th century, Hitler, Stalin, Mao, Castro, Franco, Mussolini, Pol Pot, Kim Jong Il, etc. one would have thought that that the left would have learned a lesson from all its failures and given up on their fantastical vision of a utopian paradise that can only be reached by forced conformity. But no way because here we go again – in our own country no less and not on some distant shore. They really are a one-trick pony that knows no other way. It will never occur to them how evil they are. show less
Read more: http://www.americanthinker.com/2012/02/leni_riefenstahl_congratulations_on_the_hhs_regulations_comments.html#disqus_thread#ixzz1mvnEZJIr
That is certainly, frighteningly true, America.