Rick Santorum recently gained notoriety as the second place winner of the Iowa caucuses. Santorum is a lawyer and former U.S. Senator representing Pennsylvania. Read a full biography of Santorum by the Atlanta Elections Examiner here.
Campaign website: ricksantorum.com
Supporting PAC: Red, White and Blue Fund (rwbfund.com)
Ga. website: fundly.com/georgiaforsantorum
Taxes: Rick Santorum would simplify personal income taxes by establishing two lower rates: 10 and 28 percent. He would reduce corporate taxes to 17.5 percent (from 35 percent) and eliminate the tax on repatriated income. He would eliminate the death tax and the Alternative Minimum Tax. Santorum would also increase a variety of tax credits and deductions.
Economy: Santorum would repeal all Obama-era legislation that costs more than $100 million to implement. He also promises to negotiate five free trade agreements in his first year. Santorum favors tort reform and would approve the Keystone XL pipeline. Santorum also supports an audit of the Federal Reserve and a return to its original charter in which its sole purpose is to manage inflation.
Obamacare: Santorum would repeal Obamacare. He favors health savings accounts and giving Americans the option to purchase low cost, high deductible major medical plans. He would like to increase competition to lower costs, along with allowing health insurance to be sold across state lines. He would give a tax credit for health insurance premiums paid by individuals. Santorum would enact tort reform to cut costs and give Medicare block grants to the states.
Energy: Santorum opposes cap-and-trade and believes that ethanol subsidies should be phased out. He believes that the U.S. needs an “all of the above energy policy that utilizes oil, natural gas, coal, and nuclear energy.” He would remove government roadblocks to domestic oil exploration. (thepoliticalguide.com)
Life: Santorum opposes abortion, euthanasia, assisted suicide and human cloning. He supports stem cell research that uses non-controversial methods and does not destroy human embryos. He supports religious freedom and opposes discrimination on the basis of opposition to abortion.
Iran: Santorum would support the Iranian democracy movement and work with Israel to eliminate the Iranian nuclear threat, using military force if necessary. He would use sanctions and diplomatic pressure against the Iranian regime. He would work to implement a missile defense system and defend against an EMP attack. He would also put pressure on Hamas and Hezbollah and recall the U.S. ambassador to Syria.
Immigration: Santorum supports comprehensive immigration reform including a border fence and eliminating benefits to illegal immigrants. He does believe that immigrants already in the U.S. must be dealt with separately. Santorum would make English the official U.S. language. (thepoliticalguide.com)
National Security: Santorum favors a missile defense system and protection against EMP attacks. He opposes cuts to the defense budget, but would work to eliminate waste. He cites the need to have U.S. bases around the world in order to fight the War on Terror. While in the Senate, Santorum had a pro-military voting record. (ontheissues.org)
Spending: Santorum would cut $5 trillion in five years and immediately cut non-defense discretionary spending to 2008 levels. He favors a balanced budget amendment that would cap spending at 18 percent of GDP. He would cut the federal workforce by 10 percent and freeze non-defense salaries for four years. He would reduce foreign aid and his website specifies a number of government programs and subsidies that he would cut or eliminate.
Entitlements: Santorum favors the Paul Ryan plan to reform Medicare while preserving current benefits for seniors. He would reform Social Security to put the program on a sustainable path. He would use block grants to empower the states to find more efficient Medicare and welfare solutions.
Second Amendment: Santorum is a supporter of the individual right to keep and bear arms and has received high ratings from the NRA and other gun groups.
Gay Marriage: Santorum is a supporter of traditional marriage. He also authored the “Workplace Religious Freedom Act” to ensure individuals of all faiths could not be discriminated against while on the job.
Where possible, the positions of the candidate were taken from the campaign websites cited above. When this was not possible, the source of the information presented is cited in parentheses and linked.
Read this article on Examiner.com:
http://www.examiner.com/elections-2012-in-atlanta/2012-voter-guide-rick-santorum