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WEST COLUMBIA, SC -- Presidential hopeful Rick Santorum on Wednesday hit his Republican rivals for their critiques of frontrunner Mitt Romney's record at Bain Capital, calling their criticisms of the former Massachusetts governor an attack on capitalism.
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and Texas Gov. Rick Perry have used Romney's time at the investment firm to portray him as a business tycoon who fired scores of workers for his own profit. But Santorum likened such attacks to what he called the anti-capitalism rhetoric President Obama has used to attack America's most financially successful corporate leaders. Rhetoric, Santorum says, that has stalled the economy and put the country's free market system into question.
"It’s this hostile rhetoric, which unfortunately - I don't want to stand here and be a defender of Mitt Romney, but unfortunately even some in our party now, even some running for president will engage in with respect to capitalism," Santorum said to a town hall of nearly 200 people. "It is bad enough for Barack Obama to blame folks in business for causing problems in this country. It’s one other thing for Republicans to join him."
While others seeking the GOP nomination see Romney's time at Bain and recent comments that he enjoys the ability to fire people as an opening for political attacks, the former Pennsylvania senator has not piled on. Even when prodded by reporters to take a shot, Santorum instead has only said he believes in the economic model that allows people to be successful.
However, that does not mean Santorum has shied away from taking jabs at Romney. The candidate trying to portray himself as the only true conservative in the race has elected to use Romney's record as a governor, not a businessman, to go on the offensive.
"The other side is going to look at my record and look at Gov. Romney's record on health care and say, 'You want to attack me on health care? Who are you to attack me on something that I used your plan to build my health care method?'" said Santorum. "He's taking away the biggest issue that we have in this election."
The former Pennsylvania senator arrived in South Carolina on Wednesday coming off a fifth place finish in the New Hampshire primary, where he told those here not to look at his ultimate finish, but how dramatically he improved in his poll numbers since last month.
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What does Santorum know about capitalism...he obviously didn't beleive in it when he sent billions in corporate welfare to some of those capitalist companies in PA.
Anyone of the cadidates will say anything they have to to get past the primaries, then they will make a sharp turn to the left to attract the moderates. It has happened before and it will happen again.
Neither Santorum nor Romney get it. Taking what is not rightfully earned is theft at best, robbery at worst. Corporate raiders fall somewhere in between these two. Call it "capitalism" all you want but it is naked abuse of the power money and twisting the law gives to the conscience-less. With the sort of morality they demonstrate it doesn't matter what the ideological framework they pay lip-service to - conservatism or communism - the outcome is the same. Others suffer, they prosper. If I believed in an interventionist God I'd pray that they'd become enlightened about their depravity and the suffering they cause so they could die of shame and relieve us all of their predations.
Mr grover, gop, & the rushbo saying facts are wrong because of the source to deter people from checking the facts. Typical of santorum. Having 7 children is a terrible example for the planet. By 2090, there would be 300B people using fossil fuel for energy up from 7B today.
Santorum has probably heard that folks are getting disgusted with negative campaigning and is now jumping on the populist bus. Never fear however, he will tak a different tack next week. Kind of like "capitalism" the goals and rewards of which are subject to change according to which crook is attempting to identify it as thier mantra. It is in the same basket with the now non-existant free market. (Free market is one in which goods and services are sold at a price based on the quality of the services and goods offered and demand. Seems like now a days, prices are set based on the ever increasing profits required to support huge bonuses and he consumer be damned-porr quality, service and high prices demand based not on earned money but borrowed money. No more free market and what is capitalism today.)
To all the other GOP hopefuls: be careful kicking Romney's ass, you might just break Santorums nose and the tax payer will have to fott to bill to have is extracted from Romney's better side and fix the break.
This guy would settle for the #2 spot.He and Willard have alot in common.Only Willard has much,much,much more money.
K.M....Do you REALLY want Ricky S...as opposed to Ricky P...that close to the Oval Office?
I think he'd be far better off in say..oh...Alaska. Siberia, maybe....at least he'd be more at home, there.....
Santorum, Shut your pie hole moron
Anybody who belives this is an attack on Capitalism needs to book a flight to almost any country in south America.When you let the government be bought by big business and the rich so they pass only laws and regulations that favor them that's called a banana republic.Governments purpose is to maintaian a fair and level playing field.This country quit doing that years ago
For the first (and probably last) time ever, I agree with something Newt Gingrich said. "Just because you have the right to do something, doesn't make it the right thing to do."
And now Rush is calling Newt a socialist. Doesn't take much to get kicked out of the GOP party of purity, does it?
Capitalism is certainly one of the pillars of an open and democratic society, but like all positive activities it can be perverted and turned against other equally important aspects of a democracy. The nation is founded on one person, one vote. It took nearly two centuries to come close to perfecting this notion. Now we have large corporations wielding disproportionate influence and acting as if they actually have a vote. If the activities of a single corporation are so beneficial, then the owners and workers in that corporation can vote their interest... individually.
Unapologetic cheer-leading for corporate freedom and person-hood is no different than stealing the power of the vote from every U.S. citizen. When a corporation controls some aspect of society, only the shareholders, interested only in profit for the most part, have a vote. The erosion of your personal power in the voting booth begins with corporate dominance.
Greed and the quest for control of commercial sectors will always be with us. Regulation and policing of corporate over-reach is an imperative, not a socialist activity.
By extension, many of the highlighted activities Mr. Romney undertook in the business arena, while legal, were probably unjust, and portray the conservative mantra of "every man for himself", something strangely at odds with his Mormon religion. Anyone who speaks about firing a person in a positive/enjoyable way is certainly not the sort of thinking and compassionate individual that is required of the presidency. Mr Santorum, shilling for conservative votes and possibly the VP nomination, is just one more unapologetic conservative propelled by that grand illusion of trickle-down and corporate beneficence.
Mr. Santorum has a rare gift for taking complex issues and turning them into moronic sound bites:
Mr. Santorum is a small-brained, right-wing dufus who in any other era would last 2-minutes as a presidential candidate, but today he is a hero to millions. Hang your head in shame that it has come to this.
Pete- Good post.
The very nature of capitalism has changed, and most serious investors are no longer "job-creators". Investors used to provide capital to a company, which the company would then use to finance their activities - purchase equipment, hire workers, etc. The investor would then get a return from the increased profits of the company.
Now investors provide capital to fund managers who invest in stock options, futures or some other financial instrument - no investment in a company, no job creation. The fund manager may even bet on a company losing money! The only winners are the investor and the fund manager - who both end up paying only a capital gains tax! That is one reason that lowering taxes on the wealthy did not and will not stimulate the economy, because their increased wealth finances investments that for the most part do not lead to job creation.
Ricky S SHOULD know an attack on capitalism when he sees one...considering that his family back in Italy are all Communists.
Now the Republican party is waking up! Santorum against capitalism! But, we want to know which "LOBBYISTs" are backing him? If he's clean, he has the American People of the United States backing him. If it is a Republican trick to get him elected, look out, cause the sparks will fly. It's time for change, and that time is now, NOT LATER, BUT RIGHT NOW! Go get Santorum! You'll probably be no better off than President Obama, he couldn't beat the corporates, what makes you think that you can??? It's a middle class dream! Good Luck in your endeavors! But again, we, the American People of the United States, want our country back! This better not be a Republican trick! We'll vote for you as soon as you expose your lobbyists to us. The sooner the better!
I can't imagine why anyone would care what that whack job Santorum had to say in the first place. The bottom line is that no sane and informed person would ever vote for him or Romney who is nothing but a slimy corporate monkey that would rob the American people of every cent they have and put it in his and his corporate masters pockets.
an attack on the vultures of capitalism, yes!
he makes it sound as america is being attacked?
i can tell you this, we in michigan have a vulture capitalist as govenor, who is slowly picking democracy apart and will leave this state barren and it's local governments destroyed!
Santorum, here's your REVISED PLATFORM FOR THE AMERICAN PEOPLE OF THE UNITED STATES : 1. A FOUR DAY WORK WEEK WITH THE SAME FIVE DAY PAY. This will allow corporate to put more people to work and aid our failing economy. 2. 8% Fed Income Tax for ALL WORKING INDIVIDUALS, ALL BUSINESSES, CORPORATES & ALL "SO-CALLED" NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATIONS (NO LOOP HOLES!). 3. NO MORE CORPORATE LOBBYISTS OR ANY KIND OF LOBBYISTS! Romney's got his wife's muti-millions, let him use it up, who cares. He couldn't beat President Obama, he doesn't have the presidents brains or class.
If you run on the above platform you will win all the American votes, except the puppets, backing coporate lobbyists. Right now, that's a very small percentage. IT'S TIME FOR CHANGE, AND THAT TIME IS NOW, NOT LATER BUT RIGHT NOW!!!!!
Santorum...Ex Senator.....ex Presidential candidate......never a consideration for VP and a future lobbyist in DC.
Millions out of work, millions more with no access to affordable health care or housing.
Maybe our economic system (capitalism) needs some criticism!
Capitalism "unregulated" is more dangerous to Democracy than any threat we will ever face economically. We are witness to that fact after watching and experiencing what the Bushenomics did to our great society and our economy. The term needs to be reformulated and redefined.
Has santorum looked at the assets of the vatican bank lately? The booty didn't come from donations.
We all know that Jesus was a capitalist right "holier than thou" Rick Santorum?
Palin, Santorum, Perry, Paul, and Gingrich all need to stop their BS attack on Romney and get behind him to defeat the current moron running the country. The GOP needs insure they capture the White House and the Senate in order to get this country turned around from going down the tubes with Obozo in charge. It is time for the naysayers to shut their mouth and either switch over and become a demorat or get behind Romney and support him. The other GOP candidates need to shut up and support the individual who can win. lets face it, none of the others can! We are tired of the attacks by those who are supposed to be republicans. If you would rather have Obozo running the country then you may just get your wish by trying to bring down Romeny. So wise up and do the right thing and get off your selfish envy BS.
Rick the GOP put this country down the tube and it started before '05. Romney is not the man to turn things around. He's a dweeb, changing his views and what he stands for daily. If you want to know the real Romney look at his last record in office.
It's not capitalism they're condemning; it's not capitalism President Obama is attacking; it's the vulture capitalism of the sort practiced by greedy elitists like Romney. They buy up companies, eviscerate them by taking every cent they can out of them for their personal profit, then fire the workers. ("I like firing people" -- Romney). That's not the capitalism Smith and Ricardo had in mind, and it's certainly not the kind of capitalism that will help this country. Naturally Romney dislikes federal regulation, since it would stop the kind of "business" he's practiced. He obviously isn't a very smart man, and his lack of character makes him a very poor candidate to lead this country. It would be better to have an honest wingnut like Ron Paul in the White House than an out-and-out vulture like Romney.
President Santorum, once you have given the American People of the United States their country back, there is one more item to take care of...It's a question? Other than greed, is there any reason any one man needs more than $5 million for himself and his family? The rest should go to charity for the truly poor that can't help themselves instead of begging the middle class to support charities. What do you think? We, the American People of the United States deserve much more than we are receiving. The corporates took away our retirements, sabatoged our 401K, stole our homes and made us taxable for the corporate banks! ENOUGH IS ENOUGH! It's time for change, and that time is now! Not later, but right now!
Attacks on Romney are attacks against Vulture Capitalism.