About Me

In writing the "About Me" portion of this blog I thought about the purpose of the blog - namely, preventing the growth of Socialism & stopping the Death Of Democracy in the American Republic & returning her to the "liberty to abundance" stage of our history. One word descriptions of people's philosophies or purposes are quite often inadequate. I feel that I am "liberal" meaning that I am broad minded, independent, generous, hospitable, & magnanimous. Under these terms "liberal" is a perfectly good word that has been corrupted over the years to mean the person is a left-winger or as Mark Levin more accurately wrote in his book "Liberty & Tyranny" a "statist" - someone looking for government or state control of society. I am certainly not that & have dedicated the blog to fighting this. I believe that I find what I am when I consider whether or not I am a "conservative" & specifically when I ask what is it that I am trying to conserve? It is the libertarian principles that America was founded upon & originally followed. That is the Return To Excellence that this blog is named for & is all about.

Monday, February 13, 2012

Santorum's Turn In The Barrel

Following Rick Santorum's primary & caucus sweeps last week in CO, MO, & MN some people sent me messages like "Doug - You should feel a bit better today."  Others called to ask if Santorum is the answer to our prayers (the savior as one put it) – no pun intended.  He is not.

To give Santorum his turn in the barrel with Newt & Mitt, both of whose positions & baggage were presented over the past two months in vivid detail – if you read theses messages you can't say you don't know these guys, below are some facts about Rick we all should know:

1.  Santorum is virtually a one dimensional candidate – social issues.  Having met him last month @ the Westin Hotel in Hilton Head he comes across as preachy.  Neal Boortz even calls him a theocrat.  Is this part of why he lost his last PA election for U.S. Senate by 18 points to an opponent who did not even show up for scheduled debates?  Carry the swing states? – I don't think so. 

2.  Santorum's economic & tax plan is just about the worst on the Republican side – he uses the tax code to pursue social & political issues in picking his own preferred winners & losers mostly following social issues important to him.  Santorum plays BO's & Romney's game of wanting to eliminate income tax deductions on business & the wealthy while saving some of the costliest deductions like the mortgage interest deduction that is claimed by only about one third of income earners.  He sanctimoniously proposes tripling the tax credit for children (supported by the Christian right) that merely rewards taxpayers who have children over those who don't.  He shows his economic illiteracy in picking manufacturing as a winner charging them no corporate income tax but saying firms like Wal Mart who save American consumers billions of dollars every year don't deserve this type of break.

3.  Point #2 suggests Santorum' protectionist bent.  He voted against NAFTA, supported steel tariffs, & a 27.5% tariff on China for currency manipulation – what does he think caused the Great Depression of the 1930s?

4.  Santorum was a GW Bush compassionate conservative who voted for every spending program Bush proposed starting with Medicare Part D – this is Santorum's link to Mitt & Newt on government healthcare.  He also was an earmark king which he now somewhat apologizes for.

5.  When I met Santorum he told me he is worried about the FairTax's impact on families – a standard answer from those who know nothing about the FairTax - but would consider a consumption tax in his second term.  He concluded that now is not the time for the FairTax with all the problems we have – oh really.  Accordingly, a non-starter now for him.  I pushed the issue & asked him to please give the FairTax a try pointing out how it would help manufacturing – one of his pet projects.  He said he was aware that the FairTax taxed state & local governments & that would be a problem to overcome.  In the five seconds or less that I had @ this point I told him that without this feature governments would get into many businesses that they have no business being in.  He acknowledged this as he was moving on.

6.  "I am not a libertarian, and I fight very strongly against libertarian influence within the Republican Party and the conservative movement. I don't think the libertarians have it right when it comes to what the Constitution is all about. I don't think they have it right as to what our history is, and we are not a group of people who believe in no government."  Source - Rick Santorum recorded on the Neal Boortz blog.  This ignorant statement by itself turns me against Santorum.

Ron Paul appeared on Deface The Nation yesterday – click here to hear Dr. Paul say that Mitt, Newt, & Rick are each about as conservative as the other two.  The worst part of the interview though is when Dr. Paul points out that 20% of Republicans have said they will either stay home or vote for BO if one of these three candidates is the Republican nominee.  The low turnout stats I have presented recently show that @ least the first of these possibilities is already happening.

3 comments:

  1. I CAN NOT VOTE FOR SANTORUM... JUST READ HIS QUOTE BELOW... HIS IDEA OF A TRADITIONAL CONSERVATIVE... WELL THAT'S NOT ME AND I WILL NOT HAVE ANY PART OF IT... WHO IS THIS GUY??? IT IS REAGAN WHO HAS IT CORRECT


    One Santorum quote... and one quote from Reagan that explains why:


    "This whole idea of personal autonomy, well I don't think most conservatives hold that point of view. Some do. They have this idea that people should be left alone, be able to do whatever they want to do, government should keep our taxes down and keep our regulations low, that we shouldn't get involved in the bedroom, we shouldn't get involved in cultural issues. You know, people should do whatever they want. Well, that is not how traditional conservatives view the world and I think most conservatives understand that individuals can't go it alone."

    Ronald Reagan:


    "I'm convinced that today the majority of Americans want what those first Americans wanted: A better life for themselves and their children; a minimum of government authority. Very simply, they want to be left alone in peace and safety to take care of the family by earning an honest dollar and putting away some savings. This may not sound too exciting, but there is something magnificent about it. On the farm, on the street corner, in the factory and in the kitchen, millions of us ask nothing more, but certainly nothing less than to live our own lives according to our values — at peace with ourselves, our neighbors and the world.

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  2. I know that none of the current candidates are the ideal. Unfortunately, some who would have been better have chosen to sit this one out and we are left with the dregs. The dilemma, to my mind, is this. If BO gets a second term, nothing will stop him from escalating his agenda of turning us into a third world country. It will not end well.
    I have no intention of voting for BO. I also have no intention of staying home as that is tantamount to giving him my vote and that will never happen. I'll take my chances with whoever.

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  3. I reread the blog and of course you are right. Everyone of these men have flip flopped all over the place and comes with lots of baggage. The one with the cleanest hands is Ron Paul but, as President, his foreign policies would put us in jeopardy with every rogue nation in the world so he's not an option.
    We are left then with the other three. Santorum is big on family values but his record is rife with voting on the wrong side of the aisle. Romney has experience in business ( mostly takeovers) and was a Governor but knows nothing about how Washington works. This could be a blessing or a curse. We have no way of knowing which way he will turn and frankly, I'm not convinced he would be the right person.
    That leaves Newt. Baggage aside, I think time has given him some new perspective and possibly even some wisdom that may equate to a change in his thinking. Also, he seems to have the Will and the guts to stand up to Obama. If push comes to shove, I think I would rather take a chance with Newt than the others. Romney and Santorum will likely continue the slow advance to progressive-ism while I believe Newt will support our Constitution. Then we will have the time to find the right person for the next term.

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