Santorum Exposed: The Blog - Santorum's Hypocrisy

Your taxes at work for Rick

nospam@example.com (Brian) — Tue, 21 Nov 2006 11:20:43 -0700

Rick Santorum will remain a U.S. Senator and continue to receive a taxpayer-funded salary to represent the people of Pennsylvania until January 3rd. He also has 9 offices that will continue to operate at taxpayer expense.

So we found it very interesting when we learned that Santorum is apparently no longer interested in providing constituent service, or even responding to requests or inquiries sent to his office.

How did we learn this? A reader recently sent us a copy of the following auto-response email she received after submitting an email through Santorum's senate web site. We then also submitted an email to Rick's office and received the same response. Here it is:

Thank you for contacting me. As always, I appreciate hearing from you.
As you may know, the United States Senate is currently in a period of
transition. Accordingly, your concerns may be better met by contacting
your new Senator, Bob Casey, Jr. You may call the Capitol Switchboard for
Senator Caseys contact information at 202-224-3121. I also recommend
that you contact Senator Arlen Specter or your Representative in the
House.

Thank you again for contacting me.

Sincerely,
Rick Santorum
United States Senate

Since Rick is no longer interested in serving his constituents, do you think he'll stop collecting his salary from the taxpayers? Of course not, because Rick has always believed the rules are different for him.

Santorum: Iraq is retaliation for 9/11

nospam@example.com (Brian) — Tue, 24 Oct 2006 13:39:50 -0700

Rick Santorum says that we went into Iraq as retaliation for 9/11, even though even George W. Bush has said that Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11.

Santorum: "It is because we were able to go out and retaliate for the damage. Yes they took down two towers, we took down two countries that were supporting terrorism. They lost."

Santorum's Latest Flip-Flop

nospam@example.com (Brian) — Tue, 17 Oct 2006 08:49:58 -0700

Last night, Rick Santorum said he has come out against raising the Social Security retirement age. The problem is, that doesn't really match up with his previous statements on the subject. Watch our new web ad to see how his opinion has evolved:

Help us Expose Santorum

Santorum Blames Media for Page Scandal

nospam@example.com (Brian) — Mon, 09 Oct 2006 20:16:41 -0700

Proving, once again, that there is absolutely nothing Rick Santorum won't blame on the media, he said that the only reason the press is covering the Mark Foley/Congressional page scandal is to divert attention from national security issues and defeat Republicans. Don't believe us? Watch the video, we didn't believe it either:

Help us Expose Santorum

The Lieberman Tragedy

nospam@example.com (Brian) — Thu, 31 Aug 2006 11:16:49 -0700

During his speech to the PA Press Club, Rick took a moment to lament the fact that people in America "tend to play politics" with the war on terror. Somehow Rick is delusional enough to believe that he doesn't participate in those games. Anyway, one example Rick gave of what happens as a result of war politicking is that, "good men like Joe Lieberman lose elections because of it, which is a tragedy." Here's the video:

Click play button to watch video

Santorum's History Lesson

nospam@example.com (Brian) — Wed, 30 Aug 2006 13:11:46 -0700

During a speech to the Pennsylvania Press Club, Rick Santorum gave us his quick synopsis of the Crusades and how they relate to what he calls the World War on Islamic fascism. However, it seems that Rick either took a considerable amount of poetic license (the Ottoman Empire was Islamist?) or he might need a history refresher course.

Watch the video. Then, read the column below, in which Capitolwire's Pete DeCoursey fact checks Rick.

Click play button to watch video

Here is an excerpt from Pete DeCoursey's Capitolwire column about Rick's speech:

Santorum told Pennsylvania Cable Network viewers and a crowd of lobbyists, reporters and insiders that the current war on terrorism is a new front in a conflagration raging since the Crusades. He said the puppeteers were a 1,000-year-plus lineage of radical Shia mullahs trying to overthrow the West.

Santorum said, They believe, as all Shias do, in the Hidden Imam, the 12th Imam," the 12th descendant in a straight line from Mohammed the Prophet, who disappeared in 874, at the age of 5. The Shia believe that he is the Messiah and he is in hiding and that he will return. They believe he will return with radical Islam, when Shia dominates the world.

Well, for over 1,000 years, Shias just believed that over time that they would dominate the world; and you see, by the way, 1,000 years of wars in Europe, where Islam was at the border, a bloody border, with Europe. ...

Remember, as I mentioned before, for 1,000 years, the East and West fought, up until 1683, which was the high-water mark of Islam into Europe. It wasnt in Greece or Turkey; it wasnt in Italy or Spain; it was in the heart of Europe it was in Vienna.

In 1683, not that long ago, the Islamists had surrounded the gates of Vienna and were on the verge of toppling it after a siege; ... but the West united, and led by the Poles, [King] John Sobieski and the Polish Hussars defeated [the Arab forces] in a one-day battle on the plains outside Vienna.

What was the high-water mark of this 1,000-year war? It was the day before. What was the date the day before? Sept. 11, 1683.

Then, linking that nearly 323-year-old battle to Sept. 11, 2001, and the war the United States and its allies are now waging to the Crusades, Santorum said of the radical Shia mullahs and their followers: They know their history; they know what theyre about; and they know what they want to accomplish.

Their goal? To destroy the West, conquer the world and bring their Messiah, the 12th Imam, out from hiding.

If you are of a certain age, this sounds like Leonard Nimoy on his old "In Search Of ..." TV show, which checked out yarns like the one that said space aliens built the pyramids.

If this were The History Channel, Santorums yarn would get fiercely debunked. For one thing, those Crusades, the 1,000 years of wars Santorum mentioned, were fueled as much by European invasions and attacks eastward, as by Islamic attacks or incursions westward.

Also, the armies that Sobieski kicked out of Vienna were not radical Islamists led by Shia radicals, but rather the Ottoman Empire.

That empire was a Turkish soufflé of nations that, much like modern Saudi Arabia and other Arab states, had a worldly, not-so-religious ruling class and officer class uneasily leading a diverse, downtrodden, majority-Islamic populace. Heck, its capital, Constantinople/Byzantium, was the capital of Orthodox Christianity until the mid-15th century.

Saying the Ottoman Empire was a tool of radical Shia is as silly as the French anti-American zealots who claim President Bush is governing the nation as the puppet of radical evangelists.

Santorum also chilled a few audience members when he said: " ... We got bogged down with Sunni and Shiite, with secular governments and non-secular governments, and we say, Well, theyre all different.

"No, theyre not; theyre a common enemy. The enemy of my enemy is my friend. And the enemy of all those, whether its Iran or Syria or Islamic Jihad or Al-Qaeda or Hezbollah or Hamas or Somalia or Syria the enemy is the West, us, the infidels."

One longtime Harrisburg insider tried to ask Santorum if he really thought we ought to kill every Islamic person who ever yelled Death to the infidels!

Rick lies about us on video

nospam@example.com (Brian) — Thu, 24 Aug 2006 11:41:22 -0700

It's official, Santorum Exposed is definitely making a difference.

How do you we know, you may ask? We know because Rick Santorum told us. Just days ago Rick not only mentioned us by name, he LIED about us - TWICE.

That's right, at a recent event, Rick mentioned the Lantern Project, the organization responsible for Santorum Exposed. He went on to talk about our TV ads -- which clearly annoy him -- and then he claimed that our "biggest donor" is Barbra Streisand. That is a bald-faced lie.

We're proud that Barbra Streisand chose to support our work, and that she was one of our earliest contributors, but her contribution is not even close to being our largest. We're pretty sure Rick already knows that her donation amounts to less than 0.2% of the total funds we have raised, and that our actual "biggest donor" is a union representing janitors and security officers, nurses, hospital and nursing home employees, home care and public service workers -- again, people we are proud to stand with and count among the supporters of our work. Like all 527 organizations, we disclose that information to the public and it is easy to find online. We're certain Rick has access to the Internet.

But one lie wasn't good enough for Rick. He went on to claim that we have a "radical left agenda." As you know from both our web site and our TV ads, there is absolutely nothing "radical" about our agenda. Our only agenda has always been to expose the extremism, hypocrisy and LIES of public officials like Rick Santorum. We never realized that Rick would make our job so easy by actually lying about us.

But why would Rick lie about us? Do you think it's because we're exposing the facts about him and his record? You'll notice he doesn't say anything to refute the facts in our ads or on SantorumExposed.com -- instead he misrepresents the facts about us and our organization. Perhaps that's because he can't refute the facts about his record, so he has chosen to try to smear us instead. Frankly, we're not surprised.

Santorum says Dems appease, retreat

nospam@example.com (Brian) — Fri, 11 Aug 2006 13:37:00 -0700

On Wednesday Rick Santorum said of this week's Democratic Primary Election in Connecticut:

"The Democrats have shown their true face. They've shown they are the party of cut and run. They are the party of appeasement and retreat."

Then, on Thursday Rick accused Democrats of playing politics with the war on terror. Let us know when your head stops spinning.

Here's the video from Wednesday:

Click image to watch clip

Rick Reserves the Right to Discriminate

nospam@example.com (Brian) — Thu, 10 Aug 2006 12:04:35 -0700

We found it odd, but encouraging when we read last week that Rick Santorum had signed on to a statement saying his office would not discriminate in hiring on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity. So, we were less than surprised when we read today that Rick has contacted GenderPAC to tell them that it wasn't really his signature (identity theft really is running rampant these days).

Do you think that the reaction of the religious right wing may have had some effect upon Santorum's ink becoming invisible?

Santorum: Scientists are Immoral

nospam@example.com (Brian) — Wed, 19 Jul 2006 11:37:27 -0700

Yesterday, before the senate debated and voted on the stem cell bills, Rick Santorum was a guest on C-Span's Washington Journal.

After a caller phoned in to voice her moral outrage over embryonic stem cell research, Rick expressed his belief that, "most scientists unfortunately, those that certainly are advocating for this (embryonic stem cell research), and many others feel very little moral compulsion." Rick continued, "It's a utilitarian, materialistic view of doing whatever they can do to pursue their desired goals."

Um, Rick, do you mean the horrifying goal of trying to find cures for terminal diseases? Here's the video:

Click image to watch clip

Santorum Throws Stones From Glass House

nospam@example.com (Brian) — Thu, 13 Jul 2006 13:02:56 -0700

Rick Santorum was Lou Dobbs' guest last night to discuss immigration reform. Does Dobbs discuss anything else? Rick's opposed to the immigration reform bill that passed the Senate with bipartisan support because it provides illegal immigrants already in the country the ability to become citizens.

During the interview with Dobbs, Rick explained why he believes the Senate passed the legislation. He blames it on a coalition involving the "Wall Street Journal" and "open-markets conservatives" who he says want a flow of cheap labor into the country, and Democrats who see this as a political opportunity to build a base of support for the future.

We found it amazing that Rick would accuse anyone of playing politics with immigration considering the headlines he's been generating lately. When it comes to hypocrisy, Rick never lets us down. Here's the video:

Click image to watch clip

No faith in Rick's immigration policy

nospam@example.com (Brian) — Mon, 26 Jun 2006 11:48:14 -0700

Jerry Bowyer, the author of a book titled "The Bush Boom: How a Misundestimated President Fixed our Broken Economy," has an opinion piece in today's Philadelphia Daily News, which makes the argument that the strong faith Rick Santorum often cites as a major influence on his policy decisions may not be what's guiding his hard-line stance against amnesty for illegal immigrants. Because, as Bowyer points out, "the Bible is unabashedly pro-immigrant." Here's an excerpt:

As I read the e-mail, I thought, "Has Rick ever read what the Bible actually says about immigrants?"
The biblical case against abortion is inferential. The Bible doesn't
speak directly to the topic. It lays out some principles - sacredness
of life, humanity of the unborn - that lead to the conclusion that
abortion is not permitted. It's the same with stem cells, child tax
credits, faith-based social services, etc.
Immigration is different. The Bible is explicit. In the Torah, Moses
commanded, "Do not mistreat an alien or oppress him, for you were
aliens in Egypt."
The Bible is unabashedly pro-immigrant. The argument is simple: You
were immigrants in Egypt, and you didn't like being mistreated, so now
that you have your own country, you should treat immigrants
compassionately. It's basically the Golden Rule: Treat people the way
you used to want to be treated when you were in Egypt.
The Exodus was an act of protection against mistreated immigrants.
The children of Israel had earlier crossed the border of Egypt to seek
a more economically secure life for themselves. Eventually they were
seen as a threat to Egyptian cultural purity and national security.
Much later, King David surrounded himself with immigrants, as did his
son, Solomon. The prophets spoke out on behalf of aliens frequently.
Jesus of Nazareth was an immigrant. When he was a child, he and Mary
and Joseph crossed the border to Egypt illegally. You see, they had a
well-founded fear of political persecution from a Middle Eastern
dictator named Herod.

Santorum's Hypocrisy on Tape

nospam@example.com (Brian) — Thu, 11 May 2006 14:18:28 -0700

Our new web ad illustrates yet another example of Rick Santorum's stunning hypocrisy. Back in 1992 Rick starred in his own commercial and chastised Congressional leaders for running up massive deficits and passing the bill along to our children. Rick said back then that he would, "continue my fight to clean up Congress and its greedy spending practices."

Sadly (but not surprisingly), ending "the greedy spending practices" of Congress wasn't the focus of any Santorum battles. Instead, he fought his way into the Senate leadership, and he's led us to budget deficits of more than $1.25 TRILLION. Watch the ad to see Rick say one thing and do the exact opposite. Don't forget to share the ad with your friends, family members and contacts.

Click the image to watch the ad

Olbermann on Rick's Jet Hypocrisy

nospam@example.com (Brian) — Wed, 10 May 2006 12:40:20 -0700

Last night on MSNBC's Countdown, Keith Olbermann reported on Rick Santorum's hypocrisy in regard to subsidized trips on corporate jets. A story originally reported in the Philadelphia Inquirer.

Keith's face at the end of this clip perfectly sums up our reaction to Rick's justification of his behavior based upon his logically flawed comparison to the gas tax. Here's the video:

Click image to watch video

Ricky and the (corporate) Jets

nospam@example.com (Brian) — Thu, 04 May 2006 09:55:26 -0700

Yesterday's Philadelphia Inquirer lays out yet another case of Rick Santorum's hypocrisy. While Rick was publicly pushing to add a provision to ethics reform legislation that would end corporate-subsidized flights for members of Congress, he was taking advantage of those very same corporate-subzidized flights to travel to fund raisers.

Speaking from the Senate floor, U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum (R., Pa.) urged his colleagues to curtail a popular perk: private corporate-sponsored flights at bargain rates for members of Congress.

"This is clearly a subsidy," he said March 8.

Two days earlier, he had taken a BellSouth plane from a runway near his home in Leesburg, Va., to fund-raising events in North Carolina and South Carolina. The jet ferried Santorum, two aides and Ward White, BellSouth's top Washington lobbyist.

Santorum paid $6,955 - first-class rates, as Senate rules require, but a fraction of what it costs to operate the plane.

Not surprisingly, the corporate travel provision he was pushing while he was the "point man" on ethics reform was not included in the final package.