Rick Santorum, Big Spender?
Paul A. Rahe ·
February 15, 2012 at 7:39pm
Anyone inclined to be misled by the Romney advertisement posted by Troy Senik below should read the article Was Santorum a Senate Spendthrift? posted by Jeffrey Anderson and Andy Wickersham on the website of The Weekly Standard. It turns out that the National Taxpayers Union -- no friend to big spenders -- consistently gave Rick Santorum higher grades than almost any other Republican Senator.
Santorum has his weaknesses. But in this particular he is unassailable. What will the Romney people do next? Accuse him of having committed nepotism with his own sister?
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Comments:
Apr '11
Re: Rick Santorum, Big Spender?
Accuse him of having committed nepotism with his own sister?
Did he really? My God what a monster!
Feb '11
Re: Rick Santorum, Big Spender?
Accuse him of having committed nepotism with his own sister?
Why not?
Since when does it have to be true?
Re: Rick Santorum, Big Spender?
Thank you for posting this informative link. What I understood to be a profligate spending record (as outlined here) was always Sen. Santorum's biggest liability in my mind. In context it doesn't seem as bad...
Mar '11
Re: Rick Santorum, Big Spender?
Newt has been handling the attack ads the wrong way. I think Rick hit the right tone with the "Rombo" ad.
One doesn't sputter with rage at negative ads -- one mocks them.
A soft answer turneth away wrath. A soft answer and a giggle makes the wrathful look like a dope.
Jul '11
Re: Rick Santorum, Big Spender?
Thank you for calling attention to the piece. It helps to put the snippets of information from Romney's (or his PACs) ads in their proper perspective. The fact that Romney is making such flimsy claims highlights his precarious position: he's too afraid to attack Santorum on social issues, has no meaningful basis to attack Santorum's legislative record (except perhaps his various pro-union votes ... which he certainly wouldn't want to highlight in Michigan anyway), and has precious little to say about his own record that the Republican base wants to hear. Evitable indeed.
May '10
Re: Rick Santorum, Big Spender?
On a tangential note, I can never remember what "spendthrift" means. Is the person being described as a spender, or thrifty?
Why does the first half of the word trump the second? We don't call people tallshort.
Oct '10
Re: Rick Santorum, Big Spender?
Matthew Bartle: On a tangential note, I can never remember what "spendthrift" means. Is the person being described as a spender, or thrifty?
Why does the first half of the word trump the second? We don't call people tallshort. · 0 minutes ago
The first part is the verb, the second the object of the verb, what is being spent - one's thrift or savings. Like 'scattergood' or 'spend-all'.
Mar '11
Re: Rick Santorum, Big Spender?
Even Romney's critics often make a point of his "unblemished character," "untarnished family life," or some such thing. But the man lies.
Something within him is tarnished or blemished.
Sep '10
Re: Rick Santorum, Big Spender?
What is Mrs. Santorum holding? Is it a cat? It's a very odd pose for a cat.
Feb '11
Re: Rick Santorum, Big Spender?
Romney is lying about Santorum.
That says something about him, and it isn't good.
Character matters.
If you're the better candidate you don't need to lie about your opponents.
May '10
Re: Rick Santorum, Big Spender?
There's also the article on the Weekly Standard, "Going After Rick" by William Kristol, that pretty much takes this line of attack apart.
Dec '10
Re: Rick Santorum, Big Spender?
You're joking, right?
She's hugging a child. You are seeing the back of the child's head: it appears to be a girl with a ponytail (what you're seeing as a cat's tail).
Dec '10
Re: Rick Santorum, Big Spender?
Paul A. Rahe
Santorum has his weaknesses. But in this particular he is unassailable.
This word, "unassailable": I do not think it means what you think it means.
After all, as Snow Bird says, since when does an attack have to be true?
Well, maybe, as Gus Marvinson and Xennady point out, if the attacker has some sort of ethical or moral qualms against smearing his opponents with lies. But that seems not to be the case with the candidate assailing Santorum at present.
Jun '11
Re: Rick Santorum, Big Spender?
At this rate we'll need to encourage Mitt to stay in the race longer because his attacks help "toughen up" Santorum for the general.
Apr '11
Re: Rick Santorum, Big Spender?
For a little context on NTU ratings, see this NTU bill summary of Santorum's actions. You'll note that Santorum's bills were consistent in increasing spending, with trivial reductions. I can't find the underlying mechanisms for the NTU ratings, as opposed to bill summaries for past Congresses, but I suspect that Santorum had a bunch of tax cut proposals for the poor, along with "stimulative" tax breaks like his current manufacturing sector subsidy. Santorum gets an A, for instance, in the year that he opposed NAFTA and supported Davis Bacon. In that same year he authored bills by $13.5 billion and authored bills to cut spending by $0.
Edited on February 15, 2012 at 8:44pmDec '10
Re: Rick Santorum, Big Spender?
See what I mean? "Unassailable" is a very flexible concept.
May '11
Re: Rick Santorum, Big Spender?
The good news is that Romney is going to fight hard to beat Obama, and will use every means he can to stop Obama from continuing as president.
The bad news is that Romney will be president.
Sep '10
Re: Rick Santorum, Big Spender?
Matthew Bartle: On a tangential note, I can never remember what "spendthrift" means. Is the person being described as a spender, or thrifty?
Why does the first half of the word trump the second? We don't call people tallshort. · 34 minutes ago
Inflammable means flammable? What a country!
May '10
Re: Rick Santorum, Big Spender?
It's not just NTU. OnTheIssues.org has Santorum to the right, both fiscally and socially, of Mitt Romney.
Apr '11
Re: Rick Santorum, Big Spender?
Stuart Creque
See what I mean? "Unassailable" is a very flexible concept. · 1 minute ago
Just to be clear, are you suggesting that I'm being dishonest, or are you suggesting that Santorum's stereotype (the reason that Ben Domenech, no Romney fan and probably not repeating material given him by the Romney campaign, was opposed to Santorum back around Iowa) maybe isn't 100% false?