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LIVONIA, Mich. -- On the day Mitt Romney criticized him for not focusing enough on the economy, Rick Santorum stressed the need for simplifying the tax code, cutting trillions from the budget and building the Keystone pipeline.
Joe Raedle / Getty Images
Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum often splits his time on the stump between focusing on jobs and social issues.
And while the former Pennsylvania laid out his economic plan to a local Chamber of Commerce here, he also pivoted into the social issues that have come to largely define his campaign.
"The separation of church and state that our founders believed in, which is what I just described, has now been turned on its head," he said. "And now, it’s the church, people of faith, who have no right to come to the public square and express their points of view, or practice their faith outside of their church."
That was received with applause from the 300 supporters in attendance.
"All reporters in the back, they say, 'Oh there’s Santorum talking about social issues again,'" he said. "No, I’m talking about freedom.
I’m talking about government imposing themselves on your lives."
The balance between talking about the economy -- which will likely be the most important issue in the Novemeber election -- and social issues has been a delicate one for the Santorum campaign. The candidate often splits his time on the stump between focusing on jobs and focusing on the issues of abortion, the family, and religious freedoms. Now, in a state hit particularly hard by the recession, the former Massachusetts governor is trying to exploit it as a weakness in his rival.
Stumping in Rockford, MI, earlier in the morning, Romney said of Santorum, "It's time for him to really focus on the economy."
Responding to Romney's critique, Santorum told reporters, "Tell him to watch my speech."
On the eve of the Michigan and Arizona primaries, the Romney campaign unveiled a new line of attacks against Santorum, building off his "sometimes you take one for the team" defense of earmarking during last week's debate. Santorum did not use his speech to defend his fiscal record in Congress, but instead split time between portraying himself as a consistent conservative and introducing his plan to rebuild America's manufacturing and energy industries.
"This is a tax plan that isn't conforming to any type of school of economics, because America has its own destiny," Santorum said. "We don't fit into a school. We do our own; we cut our own path; we're Americans; we can do things different, and we can be successful in doing it. Our plan is bold. It doesn't just, you know, take an existing tax code and play around with it in 59 or 69 or 89 different tweaks."
Last year Romney unveiled a 59-point economic plan.
Santorum's first of three stops throughout the Wolverine State compliments an op-ed he in today's Wall Street Journal outlining the major tenants of his plan.
"Capitalism is painful," he said. "We all know markets are painful sometimes. When people dont keep up, when people do things that the market doesn't like, a lot of people suffer. They suffer more if you try to rig the game. I've been consistent on that. I can go after President Obama on that. No one else can in this race can."
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The Founders were casual Anglicans and had no particular interest in seeing religion become part of politics. They'd seen what that could do in the European religious wars. They did allow for a "Creator" who had endowed us with unalienable rights but it was a philosophical posture not a theological one. They ripped it off from Locke.
Until very recently, religion hasn't been a major issue in American governance. It's served mainly to provide targets for the dominant majority. Jews, Catholics, Masons (a "cult"), have all served that historical purpose -- and now the LDS church, another "cult" as far as Evangelicals are concerned. What would the rest of us do without our religious minorities?
But most of our presidents and legislators haven't taken religion seriously enough for it to be an issue. For some, the question never arose. For others, they embraced a vague Deism in which the Creator was devoutly believed in but was not affiliated with any particular church. Abraham Lincoln never went to church and nothing was made of it. A Jew served as Jefferson Davis's Treasurer.
Most industrialized nations long ago shed their "official religions." Japan as three religions goings simultaneously and the devout pick and choose among them for ceremonies. Usually it's Shinto for the home, Christianity for weddings, and almost always Buddhism for funerals. As the French say, "We have three religions -- Catholics, Protestants, and Atheists."
Some of Santorum's statements seem so retrograde that they would take us back not to the 1950s, before contraception and into the virginity mystique, but to the thirteenth century. It puts us in a camp similar to those in the Middle East governed by Sharia law. Those who insist on introducing theology into government claim to be conservative but it's really a very radical idea.
First for you and my christian bretheren Catholics and Protestants are both by definition christians. second it is not the church's rights that are in question. It is the free exercise thereof rights of each individual Catholic that are at stake. If forced upon us this healthcare provision will force Catholic citizens to either become complicit in the act of murder or stop supporting their church ( Where do you think the money comes from?). That is the freedom at stake.
Quaker pacifists believe war is murder. Yet they are forced to pay federal taxes which support wars, or they will go to jail. Join the club. Lots of us are forced to pay for things we don't agree with either through our taxes or through group insurance coverage. Some religions believe your lifesaving blood transfusion or organ transplant are sinful, but are forced to subsidize them for you through their group insurance. Lastly, contraceptives have prevented millions of abortions, and most oral contraceptives work by not releasing an egg at all, not by preventing the implantation of a fertilized egg.
lonereb:
There has been no interference with your or anyone else's freedom to practice your religious beliefs. There are plenty of "Christians" that want to impose their beliefs on the rest of us, but no government agency has done so. The requirement to provide contraception to insureds does not require the insured to use it, just to make it available to them if they wish to use it. Therefore, there is no interference with your beliefs.
I do not see the basis for your assertion that the availability of contraceptives in any way makes the individual complicit in any act of murder. They are not doing anything that results in a wrongful death.
It seems to me that Mr. Santorum speaks out of both sides of his mouth--he first states that he wants "smaller government" and "freedom", but then wants to regulate our personal lives on his particular philosophy whether we are in accord with that or not. He is not a candidate I could vote for under any circumstance.
I cannot believe he critized JFK's speech on separation of church and state. I was in high school when I first heard that speech and it had a profound impact as did his ignauration speech. I tried to convince my poor (poor as in living pay check to pay check and never having an extra penny) republican parents that here was a good man - NO - I just did not understand the family had been Republican ever since the civil war and they would never support a democrat. Imagine their feelings when I ran for public office as a democrat and won, not once but three times. LOL.
Separation of church and state is one thing but if you read carefully that speech it implies seperation of belief from action by citizens. I cannot seperate what I believe from what I do. My moral code colors all my actions.
Flat wrong. You've bought in to Santorum's nonsense.
What JFK's speech does is separate the institution of the church from the institution of government. JFK was absolutely correct, and Santorum is absolutely wrong on this point.
Here's one explanation of why Santorum is wrong:
http://pmcarpenter.blogs.com/p_m_carpenters_commentary/2012/02/what-kennedy-said-and-what-santorum-said-he-said.html
Or better yet, simply read JFK's speech for yourself since you obviously haven't:
http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/jfkhoustonministers.html
Does this man look angry to you. Like he has his knickers in a twist.
Ayatollah Rick Shall Rule America...
His Christian like Sharia law shall save the sinners.
'and building the Keystone pipeline'. It's being built as he speaks. What a clodpate.
Rich $antorum? This guy almost makes G. Bush look smart
gotta love Santorum - each and every day he shows his true colors - and lets us know how truly bad he would be for America. Surely the GOP knows he has no chance against Obama, yet the right wing continues its charge into oblivion.
Anyone think we have been had - Take a look at Romney, Santorum, Gingrich - not one with a chance in hell of beating Obama.
And then we have Ron Paul, whose polling numbers have him beating Obama - yet all we hear are crickets from the GOP establishment and main stream media. For a few weeks now Ron Paul has polled better in differing polls, yet no-one says anything. All we ever hear on msnbc is Romeny vs Obama, Santorum vs Obama, and even the irrelevant Gingrich vs Obama, but we never hear or see of Ron Paul. If you think I'm making this up, watch any TV news channel and you will likely never see anything of Ron Paul, not his polling numbers, not his popularity, nothing. Today Rassmusen has Paul besting Obama .... !!! hello!
The GOP can beat Obama .... and they can do it with Ron Paul.
With the other 3, we may as well get ready for 4 more years of Obama (and I can live with that!)
People are only responding that they'd vote for Paul over Obama because they don't for a second believe it would ever happen. It's all fantasy and they're playing along in a fantasy world. Even the "any Republican" is polling around the same numbers as Romney and Santorum, but they know that "any Republican" is a real possibility, while Ron Paul is not. Despite what any polls say, I'd be very surprised if a real match up between Paul and Obama did happen where Paul got more than 25% of the vote.
Even many of the people who say Anybody but Obama still wouldn't vote for Ron Paul.
Ron Paul is no better than Santorum on gay rights and religious freedom.
I suspect that people like "Marginalized" who support Paul are unfamiliar with the legislation he's authored like the anti-gay "Marriage Protection Act", the theocratic "We the People Act", or his full support for DOMA......or that he was a johnny-come-lately on DADT repeal.
Ron Paul is in no way like Santorum. In no way does he support a theocracy - he is a constitutionalist.
Santorum would drag us into a war with Iran, Paul would not.
Right......a "constitutionalist" who prefers the pre-civil war version of the constitution, in particular the pre-14th Amendment version of it.
I suspect you're not at all familiar with the anti-gay and pro-theocracy legislation Paul has proposed.
You might want to ask Paul why he fully supports a blatantly unconstitutional law like DOMA, and why he wrote the anti-gay "Marriage Protection Act" and the theocratic "We the People Act". The latter is so bad that he can't even get a hearing on it in a very conservative House.
Ask Paul why he thinks the states should be allowed to return to being theocracies.
Tired of the BS? Join Fourth World. The revolution has begun. There is another way.
Santorum is a raging, unbalanced idiot out of control.
God knows who feeds him this garbage he speaks.
Let him have his fun now.
If he survives the primaries we will make quick work of him in November.
The press are on him like flies on poop because it is entertainment. Anyone takes him seriously needs to check in.
"And now, it’s the church, people of faith, who have no right to come to the public square and express their points of view, or practice their faith outside of their church."
Seems like this church that keeps protesting everything against their beliefs is expressing themselves. The problem is they want religious freedoms for their beliefs, but not for anyone against what they believe.
Jesus warned of people and preachers, calling themselves Christians, that would deceive masses of people.
Matthew 24:5, For many shall come in My name, saying I am Christ (Christian), and shall deceive many. Matthew 24:11, And many false Prophets (preachers) shall rise, and shall deceive many.
Jesus preached Peace, Love, Understanding, And forgiveness. Anyone claiming to be a Christian who doesn't practice these things are just fooling themselves and the sheep following them.
Santorum really is a kook. I'm wondering if that sweater vest he always seems to wear is to conceal a bullet proof vest underneath. He seems paranoid and delusional enough to me to wonder if he thinks he's the target of a personal attack based on his religion or whatever. Then again, seeing Romney's tactics and going to any extreme to win, maybe it's not paranoia at all.
Wow.. talk about being lost in the woods!!! Rick Santorum himself has a BA from Penn State, a MBA from University of Pittsburgh, and a law degree from Dickenson School of law. Yet he states President Obama is a "snob" for wanting all American children to get a great education?
Rick.. if it weren't for you getting a quality education, we wouldn't be listening to your absolute nonsense right now!! You'd be working at Burger King or 7-11 !!! Talk about being a real hypocrite!!!
This is what I hate about the Republican Party of today. The hypocrisy!!!!! Democrats are no better, but at least they're honest about being crooked!!!
There are bad on both sides but over the last 20 or so years the republicans have become the worst of evils.
It all comes down to the government forcing a choice on each citizen of the Catholic faith between being complicit in the sin of murder ( according to our beliefs) or not supporting our church financially. Each citizen of the Catholic faith is going to have to make that decision personally.
Quaker pacifists believe war is murder. Yet they are forced to pay federal taxes which support wars, or they will go to jail. Join the club. Lots of us are forced to pay for things we don't agree with either through our taxes or through group insurance coverage. Some religions believe your lifesaving blood transfusion or organ transplant are sinful, but are forced to subsidize them for you through their group insurance. Lastly, contraceptives have prevented millions of abortions, and most oral contraceptives work by not releasing an egg at all, not by preventing the implantation of a fertilized egg.
Religion does not trump the public good in this country. It can not be used as an excuse for stupid, inhumane, dangerous or other unsavory thinking or acts. If some want better treatment for arcane beliefs there's probably an apartment for rent in Vatican City.
PS: Wearing a condom is not murder by any sane definition. Nor is the use of traditional oral contraceptives. Just because the old-time church wanted to over-populate the world with Catholics doesn't make its pronouncements true.
This guy has to be the Anti-Christ.
Santorum, The King of Mis-Information. Father of Lies. Prince of Darkness. Same thing, right?
Anyone hearing his comments would think people were being thrown in jail for bowing their heads to pray or something. No one's right to religion freedom have been taken away, or even pressured. If anything, Santorum and those who think like him are trying to force their specific beliefs on the entire country.
I truly don't understand this argument, until I remind myself it's all about fear mongering for votes. Sad.
Its the Christian thing to do.
I am much more concerned about obama's religion!!!!
By BRIAN ROSS (@brianross) and REHAB EL-BURI
March 13, 2008
Sen. Barack Obama's pastor says blacks should not sing "God Bless America" but "God damn America."
The Rev. Jeremiah Wright, Obama's pastor for the last 20 years at the Trinity United Church of Christ on Chicago's south side, has a long history of what even Obama's campaign aides concede is "inflammatory rhetoric," including the assertion that the United States brought on the 9/11 attacks with its own "terrorism."
oddly, gary, this is an article about santorum, not obama. Try to stay on topic with your flaming nonsense.
oh, that's right, you haters don't care about staying on topic. lol.
Very old news, Gary. Obama has shown that just listening to that crap is not part of his philosophy. If he believed it there would have been some tell-tale action by now. It does point out, however, that religion and church are where the mind can be subject to some really far out and stupid ideas.
You GO Rick!!! Keep up all this Palin-esque, paranoid, persecuted, idiotic claptrap of yours, and WIN THAT CONSERVATIVE NOMINATION, boy! Then, let's see you "go after president Obama on that." Yeah... I WANT TO SEE THAT!! C'MON, CONSERVATIVES, SUPPORT THIS GUY!! You KNOW that he's what you're ALL ABOUT!! C'mon! Nominate him!!! I'd vote for ya in MI today, Rick, if I had the misfortune of living there.
We have been down the road of religion running the show and made the necessary changes for freedom to exist. Santorum wants to take two steps back. No thanks.
ah - and he's just preachen' to the choir in Michigan - those people are just plain stupid, believe me, I have relatives there - a couple on state assistance and they keep telling me how the blacks and hispanics are taking down the country and how rich they are on food stamps - not realising that they too are on the same programs (they're so freaken racist and ignorant)
and here comes Sanitorium - the insane assinine cure to their salvation to heaven, wow - can't wait til the Muslims start praying to Mecca in downtown Detroit, Kalamazoo or Grand Rapids; then it'll be "you can't do that, you don't belong here' etc.
"I’m talking about government imposing themselves on your lives." I want to be free of the Santorum, and get back to reality. Ricky, you're acting like Herman Cain and saying one stupid thing after the other until... poof, no mas. Looking forward to the day all the wheels of your wagon fall off at once.
Rick, you were free to father seven children, SEVEN! You are socially irresponsible for bringing that many lives into the world. Resources are getting harder to come by or do you believe the earth has boundless goodies that you and families as large as yours can suck up? Did you father them because your arcane religion said that just about any form of birth control was forbidden? If yes, then shame on you for not using the brain that your God gave you.
You are free to talk about your religion all day, but the minute your religious beliefs mingle with governmental policy I say that you are just as despicable as the mullahs that promote their own form of repression in far away lands.
Your twisted views about our God-fearing founding fathers do not compute. Some of them were men of faith, but they were not infallible just as no man or woman is. Don't use their short-comings as an excuse to roll out your own Christian prejudices.
And could you please give us some concrete examples of where in a public square religious talk is prohibited when other talk is not? I didn't think so since you speak in sweeping terms to vilify those who do not agree with you.
And what a neanderthal you are with respect to higher education. You want schools to be able to teach intelligent design, a fairy tale whose only purpose is to claim a higher power exists. Additionally, your lies with respect to what president Obama said about encouraging every American to further their education are unforgettable in their audacity to deceive. You fear education as opening the eyes of the faithful as you declare higher education a cesspool of liberalism and faithless misdirection. Yes, Rick, you are a true modern Republican conservative who denigrates education and wishes the masses to be more easily be persuaded by your indignant delivery of lies about your political opponents. If you claim to be a Christian, Christianity has been set back 500 years.
I feel sorry for poor oppressed Christians these days...persecuted by the government, forced to meet in caves, martyred on crosses, killed for sport in the Collesseum...I get where santorum is coming from.
Oh, waiit, that was 2000 years ago!
Nowadays, there are more churches than you can shake a stick at, a zillion web sites and media outlets, lobbying organizations, etc...yeah, they sure are oppressed and restricted. lol.
lonereb-the pill works by preventing ovulation-not implantation of a fertilized egg. Before you preach to the rest of us you might want to know what you are talking about.
hes not talking about freedom hes talking about using government to enforce the church's beliefs onto everyone in this country.
He's talking about "freedom" to dictate to others. It's beyond transparent.
Freedom from abortion. Freedom from contraceptives. Freedom from education. Freedom from health care. And for the super rich, freedom from taxes