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Subscribe to RSS2012 presidential candidate Rick Santorum joins Morning Joe to discuss the Tuesday Illinois primary, his comments on contraception and the HHS mandate, U.S. involvement in Afghanistan, campaign organization issues, taking on Mitt Romney, and what it's really like running for president.
Presidential candidate Rick Santorum appeared on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" Monday morning where he responded to Mitt Romney's assertions that Santorum is a "lightweight" when it comes to economic issues. "If I am a lightweight, I agree he is a heavyweight, he is a big government heavyweight, that's what his record was."
Santorum listed the Massachusetts health care law, tax increases under Romney as governor of that state and his overall jobs record, saying, "if that's the kind of heavyweight that Mitt Romney thinks that we need, then we should probably just stick with Barack Obama."
Asked whether his campaign had gotten "off-message" with a debate over birth control, Santorum pushed back. "The issue is not contraception, the issue is government-mandated health insurance and that to me is completely on message." Santorum said he will continue to talk about the administration's initial decision to require religious organizations to provide birth control to employees as part of their health care plans.
Pressed on comments he made last fall about his feelings that contraception is "wrong," Santorum replied: "I was talking about my own personal faith and what I was saying is that the issue of out-of-wedlock births and what's going on with the destruction of the American family is something that I will talk about and have talked about in this campaign. I wasn't talking about access to contraception, that wasn't the issue."
Republicans have battled to make the contraception debate about religious liberty in the context of federal regulations that would force employers affiliated with religious institutions to offer coverage for contraception in their insurance policies -- even if that religion has moral objections to the use of contraception.
In that context, Santorum said, contraception "should" be part of the political debate.
"The only reason I would talk about this issue is, as I said, with respect to government mandates on people of faith," Santorum said. "That's why this issue continues to be talked about, and should be talked about -- in the context of the government forcing people of faith to do things against their religious beliefs."
Santorum fell further behind rival Mitt Romney in the race to the 1,144 delegates needed to secure the nomination after Romney won all 20 of Puerto Rico's delegates in the territory's Sunday primary. Santorum's strategy for securing the nomination may hinge on blocking Romney from attaining the necessary delegates, and sparking a contested convention in August.
"What I've said is that I think it's going to be very difficult as this goes on for anybody to get to that magic number," Santorum said in a separate interview on CBS, adding that he thinks the odds of a contested convention are "increasing."
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"Santorum is a disease that will destroy this Nation"
Saintroum is a an idiot with a cheezey grin..
I saw this interview and just loved it when he railed against big government always wanting to tell people what to do. Uhm, like when he wants to take away contraception because he doesn't agree with what other people do in the sexual realm? And when he said that religion should have a place in government? And I'm sure he wasn't referring to Rastafarianism. I wonder what "small government" thing he proposes next. Perhaps a ban on push up bras and breast implants?
"This Country nearing bankruptcy and there Candidates are talking about Porn & Contraception, this is beyond crazy."
And the other idiot had cheesy grits...
Perhaps a ban on push up bras and breast implants?
And those butt lifts also...
Santorum is a poster child for everything wrong with the Republican Party.
And I'm a Republican.
He rails against Romney for being too "government"...then maintains his support for the extension and enforcement of "decency laws".
Rick...buddy...who's gonna pay for all that new legislation? And forgetting the fact it's un-American (and probably unconstitutional), how on Earth do you propose to enforce it?
Most Republicans I know (that is to say, those who don't have guest-spots on "news" networks) don't give a rat's posterior about who folks marry. Most--and I fall into this category--believe in self-reliance and responsibility...not pseudo-theocracies masquerading as the protection of personal freedoms.
Honest to God...Romney and Santorum? This is the best we can do?
It isn't...but you have to wonder if, like Kerry's nomination against Bush in '04, we're actually shooting for the lowest common denominator...
While conveniently forgetting what "The Party of Lincoln" was all about, once upon a time...
As Senator, Santorum did nothing but vote for big government-- He voted to make Homeland Security one of the biggest agencies, he voted for the Medicare Drug Law that ballooned out debt, he vote for lots of earmarks...
He's a panderer and a hypocrite.
This is his plan............
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lSRSHUGOOn4
They all are
Read'em and weep Romney
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2POembdArVo&feature=youtube_gdata_player
NFIL -
I believe Mr. Santorum believes that push-up bras and breast implants fall under the FCC for "false advertising" claims. /snark
Seriously though, yeah, he's a theocrat. Deny as much as he wants, he confirms it with every other word out of his mouth. Redirecting from his personal mandate to re-ignite and possibly overturn the privacy rulings allowing women full access to hormonal birth control. All the @!$%# he dumps on single mothers as being failures, then acting surprised that women hate him because he "loves the ladies" or some other such bull@!$%#.
Santorum would be a horrible president, disregarding all other reasons, because he would attempt to stack the court with people to the far right of Scalia, and then we could see Roe v. Wade gone, Eisenstadt v. Baird gone, possibly even Griswold v. Connecticut gone. He's said it, he's said that he thinks it would be best to outlaw not only abortion, but also contraception.
Mitt Romney is a big government guy? Rick Santorum wants to bring us to Cold War era Romania, when the government forced women to have monthly exams to ensure no abortion had taken place, to determine if a woman is pregnant, to essentially remove from the woman's hands her ability to regulate her own body in a way she sees fit.
How the hell is that small government (jokes about small enough to fit in a uterus but not small enough for a penis aside)? Who the hell does Santorum think is going to pay for this? I won't. I'll lie on my taxes if that's what it takes. I don't support theocrats, and I definitely don't respect them. I'd respect somebody who attempted to change my mind (though, if their arguments are weak, I'd lose said respect on a grading scale of stupidity vs. repetition) about god or some other invisible entity. I don't have to like it, and I don't have to respect the ideas, but I respect that they believe I'm in danger and are attempting to warn me about it. Fascist theocrats don't get respect, I'll go for the throat with mockery and derision and hopefully shame them to the point they feel so unwanted and out of place that they move to a small island and die alone.
really i can't see him being president but if he does get elected he is better than obama
So wait, the man who wants the government to force, at gunpoint, every woman in America to come to term with a pregnancy... The man who wants an armed police officer in every maternity ward... The man who wants the police to investigate every miscarriage... Is accusing someone else of being "big government?"
RICK:
PORN IS SAFE SEX....and you know it. The only "heavy weight" around here is you with your talk. Full of BS. Our ears are FULL and they are starting to hurt from listening to you.
i wonder if Sintorum knows why his wife goes to the gym
Yo mama is such a lightweight she hula hoops with a cheerio.
Yeah, well your mama is such a heavyweight when she went to the movies she sat next to everyone.
Puleeze..."the destruction of the American family" began with Republicans destroying good paying jobs and the middle class. And government getting all up in everyone's business isn't a solution, it's the problem.
How so? Explain this, please. Name one policy where Santorum's stance is better than Obama's.
Perhaps a ban on push up bras and breast implants?
Here is a good one for you from hubpages.com:
The elephant asked the camel: "Why do you have your breasts on your back?" The camel clearly irritated by the outrage of modesty replies: "What a silly question from someone who has a penis on his face.
Go Santorum! You have my fullest support. Anything I can do to get you the nomination, just ask. I have promoted you to all my republican friends.
None have considered you worthy of the nomination but I keep trying to sway their votes your way. It seems you already called my very religious sister-in-law a sinner because she used birth control. You ticked off every conservative at my job for supporting Sonya Sotomayor. My niece was raped last year. You called her a sinner for taking the morning after pills. Now she is upset that the rapist has full access to Viagra while the victims are left with unwanted children for fear of going to Hell. My aunt has stopped going for her breat exams, it seems Planned Parenthood is evil somehow.
I keep trying to find things to defend you with but everyone is stuck on saving their souls. If you could, please provide me your plans for solving the deficit that won't take away my dad's Medicare and Social Security.
Never fear though. You have not lost my support! I am with you all the way until the general election!
Obama/Biden 2012
And in other news, farmers in oil producing states now importing water to irrigate their crops and feed their livestock due to the number of pipeline spills and leaks poisoning the aquifers they rely on to survive.
But they do have jobs to help pay for the high incidence of cancer and other maladies they incur, which are directly related to the high number of safety and regulatory violations in the oil industry.
And we are told to be thankful.
Hey honest jo! Who the hell do think you are ? Faux News! Your quoting stuff paid for by the people who are promoting this crap!
Santorum is the biggest big government candidate of all the Republicans running currently. This smug idiot is a fiscal liberal in favor of Big Labor, Big Entitlements... and then goes on to support Big Government moralizing. He talks about freedom, but what he really means is he thinks he should be free, despite the Constitution, to inflict his religion upon you, whether you want it or not. Santorum is the antithesis of what would make this country great: True liberty, both civil / private, and economic. That he stands against all that is good, makes him utterly repulsive. This man is completely disgusting. And this is coming from an ex-Obama supporter who would like to see the Democrats punished for the progressive authoritarianism in November.
If Romney gets the nomination, Santorum will vote for Obama. Interesting.
"Santorum is guilty of being a weird idiot"
More like being guilty of being a sore loser. :)
Merman, that's true. I cannot agree more. If Romney win the GOP nomination, all of us American would have been better off sticking with Obama. Romney will make sure every American companies go bankrupt just as much as he has wanted the same for our auto industries. The fact of the matter is that Bain Capital, which he owns, invests a lot in China and oversea.
Simple math:
George Bush = Clueless
Barack Obama = Incompetent
Newt Gingrich = Lazy
Rick Santorum = Paranoid
Folks: If you want to have the prosperity and security we enjoyed under Bill Clinton, then vote for Mitt Romney and we will have that again. It is quite simple actually.
How, magic? Neither mittens or anyone else on the right can show in basic math how their backwards ideology will help the economy, most cannot even show it will not make things much worse. 30 years of tinkle down is enough, time to quit raining on the middle class.
knightofdespair:
Math does not equal magic.
I guess Obama's plan to spend our way out of debt is your type of economic recovery plan.
I get it, you will say all kinds of feeble minded things because you are really better off than you were >3 years ago? Are you paying less for your health insurance premium? Are businesses hiring at a healthy clip because they feel that the economy is on the mend? Where is the money we give to all the Green Energy companies -- over a billion dollars -- and they are all now bankrupt? Did anyone from the Obama administration ask simple questions about economic viability of those companies before giving them money?
I haven't had to deal with tinkle down since I got depends...
Anony Mous1, your points are opinion and fantasy. Mit is a vulture capitalist, he only knows how to move large sums of money to the people at the top of the economic ladder. His version of an economy is bad for 99.9% of the population and great for 1/10th of 1%. That's a bad plan for the future.
Obama isn't trying to spend us out of debt, he's having to deal with the bills left for him from the past. Very little of the budget is new spending.
The economy is growing slowly because corporations slashed to the bone as soon as things started to go down and then made bigger profits by working the people they had left harder.
Now it's a circular equation. They won't hire until people start buying, people won't start buying until they feel secure in their jobs. German companies didn't slash and burn the same way and now they are doing much better.
Anonu Mous--Obama is NOT trying to spend our way out of debt. He's trying to spend our way out of a deep recession--which is Econ 101.
A spurred economy will allow us to pay down the debt.
Certainly, we must make budget cuts as well--but to do it in the middle of a recession will only make the recession worse. Just look at Japan and out own Great Depression for examples.
Why try to explain high school or college level theory to someone who obviously is incapable of grasping complex real world ideas?
Obviously you are all smoking something.
Firstly, the whole stimulus is in large part a failure -- it did very little as evident by where we are now. There was tremendous waste. Billions of dollars were given to Green energy companies that just evaporated i.e. no one bothered to ask questions. Even here in Massachusetts, millions of dollars were spent on a bridge -- more like a walkway -- that no one uses. I am sure there are lots of other useless projects like this in other parts of the US because the money was just there.
Secondly, spurring growth can also be attained by closing corporate tax loopholes and in turn giving small businesses incentives to hire. You certainly don't spend wildly which is what was done here.
You might be thinking that I am a so called 'conservative' which is really code for racist in some parts of this country, and don't believe that we are poluting our enviroment: Wrong. I like what Spain is doing with Solar.
What I do believe is that Obama is incompetent. He has received a free ride all his life. I actually believed that George Bush was more competent than Obama, and I believed that George Bush is the worst president in my lifetime before observing Obama for the last three years. We need someone with the intelligence of Bill Clinton and Mitt Romney is that person.
And in other news, Romney retaliates by calling Santorum a "...big doo-doo cucka face".
I agree wholeheartedly with Rick on this issue:
"we should probably just stick with Barack Obama"
First sensible thing he has said.
Anony Mous, you're saying that Obama has had a free ride? Really? Growing up with a single parent, as a mixed race child, in many different locations here and abroad. Growing up with his grandparents. Making his own way through college with distinction and into the business world and then into politics. This is a free ride?
Contrast to Romney who DID have a free ride. Born into wealth, wealthy all his life. Moving from one visible, lucrative job to another. Making more in a day than most people make in a year. THAT'S a free ride.
Anony
Uh, we are smoking THE TRUTH. It's pretty good, maybe you ought to try it.
Tell me, if the stimulus was a "waste," as you call it, than why do most economists say that it saved the economy??? And how come we started gaining jobs AFTER the stimulus was passed???? And while Obama made some mistakes with green investments, at least he is showing that he is trying and that he is focused on making green energy.
How can anyone spend their way out of debt??? That is impossible. Obama did not try to spend his way out of our debt; he tried (and succeeded) to spend our way out of the RECESSION. Basic economics states that. And Obama stuffed the stimulus with tax cuts, and I'd bet some went to small businesses.
And how the hell did Obama get a free ride all his life??? How??? What about Romney??? I don't mean to criticize his success, but his father was a freakin' millionaire. Obama's parents were middle-class, and his mother died of cancer.
And how does Romney have the intelligence of Bill Clinton??? Clinton RAISED taxes and he STILL had a booming economy. Also, Clinton had a SURPLUS in his second term. Romney's tax plan would add an extra $3.4 trillion to the debt. Why???? Because he slashes taxes for everyone by 20%. The rich get more and the working classes get less. Is that protecting economic freedom??? Is that helping the economy??? It may be for the rich, but not for everyone else. It is a silly continuation of the failed trickle-down economics.
Look, Obama isn't perfect. Not by a long shot. But you have to admit, his stimulus HELPED the economy, his auto bailout SAVED hundreds of thousands of jobs, his healthcare plan is a step in the right direction to real healthcare reform, and at least this guy compromised on deficit reduction. I would have wished that he focused on reforming entitlements, but at least he compromised. What does Romney say??? No tax increases, not even on the very wealthy. In fact, the wealthy get a bigger part of the pie, while the rest of us get a smaller and smaller slice. Face it; elect Romney, and America will become the rich man's haven. Elect Obama, and America's equal opportunity has a fighting chance. So f*** Romney and the GOP. They will do nothing but destroy this great nation of ours.
OBAMA BIDEN 2012
DEMOCRAT CONGRESS 2012
DEATH TO THE GOP 2012
You people are completely dumb. Morons like you all should vote for Santorum. He had just as tough a time in life as Obama being a minority i.e. racist in America. Also, Romney is successful because his parents gave him a lot of money: NOT.
Anony
I never said that Romney was successful because his parents gave him money. He made some good decisions financially, and that is how he got to where he is now. But how can you say that Obama got a free ride (because he was poor? A minority? see affirmative action) and not admit that Romney may not have gotten a few free breaks???
Rick Santorum may be a minority; either he is a Catholic or he is a conservative. But I am DEFINITELY not voting for him, because he supports having the state send a probe down the private parts of my future wife and banning the use of contraception and is essentially another one of those small-government idiots. America doesn't need another small-government idiot in office, at least not for the next 30 or 40 years.
OBAMA BIDEN 2012
Dumb? You're the one stating Obama's had a free ride his whole life. You mentioned George Bush in the next sentence, yet Obama is the one who had the free ride?
Guys: What is one thing Obama worked hard for in his life? Read what I said about George Bush - he was clueless. Besides George Bush in recent times -- with the lack of evidence he served in the National Guard -- I've never seen a President that has a past that is as fuzzy as Obama. How did he purchase his house in Chicago -- that scandal disappeared quickly. Remember the relentless scrutiny Clinton was under.
It is time for people to stop being party aligned and choose a competent President. We had 8 years of George Bush and we don't need 8 years of Obama.
And in other news, a recent study by the GOP finds that dumbing down of the electorate may lead to, well, ...........the results of the study show that you can't fix, er, well, ..................that stupid is as stupid does.
And in related news, all republican presidential candidates are recalled as the GOP awaits a new messiah.
"This is what you get when you put 17 tea reatards in Congress that support a nut like Santorum"
Yep! Saintorum is the social conservative. Really! He worries more about the social issues thant the real issues, like the economy. Duh! If SAintorum gets the nomination (and he won't) I will write in Goofy before I vote for either dufus..
George Bush = Clueless
Barack Obama = Incompetent
Newt Gingrich = Lazy
Rick Santorum = Paranoid
Folks: If you want to have the prosperity and security we enjoyed under Bill Clinton, then vote for Mitt Romney and we will have that again. It is quite simple actually.
Mitt Romney will not be President ,so your opinion is wasted. Better luck next election and maybe you can vote for Sarah Palin to cure all your ills. Sure like to know why you consider Obama incompetent. he saved the banking industry, wall street, G.M & Chrysler. That's the kind of incompetence we can really take.
PRESIDENT OBAMA 2012....2016
Santorum took home his wife's dead fetus from the hospital to pass around for 8 hours dancing, singing and made his kids sleep with it so everybody could say their goodbyes, this goes well beyond insanity. This guy should be put in a Sanatorium !
Romney will be the next Bill Clinton?? Why, because Romney's a liberal too?
Hilarious.
60s vet- the banking industry and wall st is exactly what's wrong with this country, obama works for the banksters not the people. look who funds obama goldman sachs.
*********I am a most unhappy man. I have unwittingly ruined my country. A great industrial nation is controlled by its system of credit. Our system of credit is concentrated. The growth of the nation, therefore, and all our activities are in the hands of a few men. We have come to be one of the worst ruled, one of the most completely controlled and dominated Governments in the civilized world no longer a Government by free opinion, no longer a Government by conviction and the vote of the majority, but a Government by the opinion and duress of a small group of dominant men." -Woodrow Wilson, after signing the Federal Reserve into existence*********
*******I belive that banking insitutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies.if the american people ever allow private banks to control the issue on thier currency first by inflation then by deflation the banks and corperations that will grow up around the banks will deprive the people of all property until thier childern wake up homeless on the continent thier fathers conquered.this issueng powers should be taken from banks and restored to the people to whom the property belongs.
-Thomas Jefferson*********
the federal reserve private bank is bankrupting us with it's worthless cycle of printing fed notes. while people are broke trying to meet ends meet, while criminals like ben bernake are eating the finest foods and drinking the finest drinks.
You repubs just believe anything that is tossed at you from fox news. there is nothing incompetent about President Barack Obama. he has kept the country afloat while you idiots fight him the whole time and still the economy is growing under his leadership still he killed osama bin laden. still he saved the auto industry. still he signed into law the equal pay act for women and healthcare reform which would have been a hell of a lot better if it weren't for you guys messing it up with stupid amendments and crazy talk like killing grandma,
OBAMA/BIDEN 2012!
Patriotic American - that is the sickest, most of-base rendition yet!
Hi DB, its for real-Go on the website and check it out.
Illuminati
In case nobody ever told you, the Federal Reserve doesn't print notes. Only the Treasury can. The Fed controls the money supply with interest rates and its balance sheet of securities. If they wanted to help the economy by increasing the money supply (which is an accepted economic theory), they would lower interest rates and buy securities from banks to give them money. And vice versa for decreasing the money supply. Calm down.
freshieee--- you missed my point, point is we are printing money that's worth nothing and we pay money to print the worthless money it's a never ending cycle of debt. calm down? we'll see how calm everyone will be when we're all screwed.
We regularly print notes to replace old and decommissioned dollar bills. Plus the money supply must increase as the economy does. And technically your right; the money has no intrinsic value. But it still has value; its value is based on the US economy. Simple as that. What do you think we should do; go back to gold??? Forget it. The gold standard didn't help us in the Depression. Plus the value of the dollar would be based not on the economy but on the progress on a single subsection: gold mining. That means the main currency for the largest country in the world (and the rest of the planet) would be dependent on the whims of gold producers. And what happens when gold stops coming??? It won't stop for a long while, but still.
Santorum is once again going to lose important delegates in Illinois due to lack of organization and that will not change throughout this process. He continues to make excuses that he did not have the money nor the people to get the proper filings done that he needed. Question, if you had every intent of running for the public nomination and eventually for POTUS, why would you not get your ducks in a row before everything started?
Santorum is now making excuses and lobbing dud grenades because he knows that his goose is cooked. Sure there are plenty of people that will vote for this man even though he has put down women in multiple ways and has dragged and crammed his religion dwon people's throats whether we want to hear it or not. He does not have what it takes to be a POTUS yet he continues to keep going in an effort to promote his religious ideas and probably a future book. He knows he is done and hopefully people will wake up and smell what this guy is dishing out. "I guarantee you that I will win the Republican Nomination".
Really Rick? Time to pack it in.
Well said!
"Santorum is not Presidential Material, Pennsylvania kicked this loser out because hes a NUT"
Like so many of my fellow Pennsylvanians, we kicked out Santorum because he is a nut. Now we've got to do the same with the "just close your eyes" governor in his response to pre-abortion ultrasounds.
Arne, no offense, but how could you vote for this guy??? I just wann know...
OBAMA BIDEN 2012
This from the king of pork while he was in congress...he didnt he dun the taxpayers of PA for 10's of thousands to homo school his whelps?
AH HA HA HA HA HA That's right Ricky, you aren't gig government at all. You just want to waste tax dollars and time trying to define what "Hard-core porn" to take it out of the hands of the vulnerable, hapless citizens you need to protect. And when doing so, create a enormous black market for it and find it being even less enforceable than illegal drugs. FOR THE WAR ON PORN!
"Santorum listed the Massachusetts health care law, tax increases under Romney as governor of that state and his overall jobs record, saying, "if that's the kind of heavyweight that Mitt Romney thinks that we need, then we should probably just stick with Barack Obama."
In other words, if I don't get the nomination, vote for Obama. Thanks for endorsing him, because you'll only get the nomination of God is drunk during the primary.
"I was talking about my own personal faith and what I was saying is that the issue of out-of-wedlock births and what's going on with the destruction of the American family is something that I will talk about and have talked about in this campaign. I wasn't talking about access to contraception, that wasn't the issue."
Oh really? then why did you say in a interview that “One of the things I will talk about, that no president has talked about before, is I think the dangers of contraception in this country,” the former Pennsylvania senator explained. “It’s not okay. It’s a license to do things in a sexual realm that is counter to how things are supposed to be”
http://thinkprogress.org/health/2011/10/19/348007/rick-santorum-pledges-to-defund-contraception-its-not-okay-its-a-license-to-do-things/?mobile=nc
Enjoying sex without making a baby? No wonder you hate homosexuals. They don't have that problem either. So apparently you think contraception IS linked to the family breakdown, but the media keeps blowing it out of proportion?
Jee wilikers, I guess I had you wrong Ricky. Here I thought you were another hypocritical politician using rhetoric to get sheep to vote for him and try to serve their own social agenda.
Oh and Ricky, if you lose the Illinois primary, will that be a guarantee you'll withdraw from the race?
Wouldn't that be a welcome relief! No more aimless speeches about contraception and his 94 year old mother and his uncles who worked in the coal mines..
Paul, if Ricky would have worked in the coal mines, he might have a clue, a real clue, about working for a living. But we need both Ricky and Newt to keep the comedy showing going on. More popcorn for sure. Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
I have to agree with Sally, without Ricky and Newt, this race would actually be about real issues and that's just not as fun!
Now I want popcorn!
Paul - How true. I really don't care where the crazy comes from. I just don't want it trying to rule my life. This all went from semi-amusing to deeply disturbing.
I love the constant scowl. Goes with the religion I guess. As counter to his Romney comment, Rick is right about one thing; he's definitely a lightweight. Man, I couldn't stand looking at the scowl for four years, not to mention the theocracy he intends to form. He believes contraception should be allowed to be banned on a state by state basis. That's whacked out, but that's Santorum.
George Bush = Clueless
Barack Obama = Incompetent
Newt Gingrich = Lazy
Rick Santorum = Paranoid
Folks: If you want to have the prosperity and security we enjoyed under Bill Clinton, then vote for Mitt Romney and we will have that again. It is quite simple actually.
I've got an idea. You should repeat that post a few more times.
Iraq is Over , Afghan is almost over and osama bin laden is dead, DOW is over 13000 and my 401k is growing fast, 2 yrs of positive Job Growth and a whole lot of my relatives are back to work. Things are getting better each month. Why would you vote for the GOP to take over when we are not fully recovered from the last time they were in the white house?
Am I better off now then I was before President Obama took office?
YES!
Obama/Biden 2012!!!
both of these clowns slick rick and mittens are big government neo cons. Ron Paul is the only real conservative who wants to restore liberty and keep government the size of an ant.
Most people don't want government to be the size of an ant. There are countries in the world, such as Somalia, that have little or no government and I don't think that's a direction we want to go in.
Instead of shrinking the government into even greater ineptitude, why don't we just change the system so that it works for the people instead of being a mindless slave to wealthy campaign donors?
who funds obama? goldman sachs. who funds romney? goldman sachs. this country was not founded to be a huge massive nanny state government. we are losing our rights everyday with war criminals like GWB and obama passing unconstitutional bills like the patriot act and the NDAA. if we keep letting government grow the way it is it's only going to be the government and police who will have full power not the people. the banking cartels have hijacked our country. so no we don't want to go in the direction of increasing government.
GOP stands for "Goodbye Old Party".
"Grand Old Pigs" GOP is Toxic !
If you want to keep the Government out of religion, then religion should stay out of politics! It IS called SEPARATION of Church and State for a REASON!
I've come to the conclusion that Santorum never was interested in becoming President. He is manipulating all the press to force his religious views. He hasn't proposed any solutions to America's problems and deep issues. He side tracks anytime he is asked about foreign affairs or methods of governing, then turns the conversation toward his personal religious rants. He doesn't give a hoot about America's needs. Certain voters will allow the wool to be pulled over their eyes and pull out the checkbook. He knows this and will continue his mission of gathering money, similar to television evangelist.
Santorum take notice:
This week, in a groundbreaking case, Argentina’s National Supreme Court decided that rape victims—all rape victims—are entitled to legal abortions. For nearly a century, the only pregnant rape victim eligible for a legal abortion in Argentina was a mujer idiota o demente, an "idiot or demented woman.” Now, 91 years after the penal codes were drafted into Argentinean law, the nation’s highest court has affirmed that abortion is available to all rape victims, not just the mentally impaired. By Latin American standards, this is a huge victory.
And just as that goes on we have the personhood initiative movement that wants to do the direct opposite and force rape victims to have their rapists baby.
If we give businesses and wealthier people bigger tax breaks and less regulations do they definitely hire more people or simply keep the money for investments in non-job producing ventures? Can anyone Democrat or Republican give me the facts?
Why do you need someone to research for you? You have access to the most extensive data collection the world has ever seen, and many times the quality of data is something you will personally have to judge for yourself. I think anyone could see that 30 years of giving tax breaks has done little good for the middle class, and quite a bit of harm for many more people who were previously earning a good income and paying for an affordable house with some spending money left over.
Wealthy business owners will open new stores (and create jobs) only if they can reasonably expect those new stores to be successful. The more the poor and the middle class are struggling financially, the less they can afford to spend. That translates to poor sales for businesses. That, in turn, means that business owners will open fewer stores.
In addition, as the middle class is put under more economic pressure, more people take out unwise housing loans in an effort to maintain the standard of living they are used to. Combine that with banking deregulation and, well, you can see where the housing market problems come from.
That's the problem with allowing the gap between the rich and the middle class to grow too large.
You've heard the old saying: it takes money to make money. For that reason, there is a natural tendency for wealth to become more and more concentrated in the hands of a very few. That's really the idea behind taxing the wealthy at a higher rate -- it helps to prevent this basic problem.
It also ensures that decision making is centered on long term growth, not fire sales of century old multi generational businesses for a quick few million.
When a company makes millions like today and their management can cash out at 15% or less taxes, why wouldn't they? When that same company will get taxed at 80% for doing so, they are more likely to pay their employees better and invest more into R&D and long term growth.
Big business executives are for making more profits for the investors. They don't create jobs, if so, they had a decade to do so. Stock holders (which very few know how to successfully run the company) are calling all the shots. This has been the problem for 20 years.
KightofDespair thank you for your generosity and kind words in responding to my inquiry as well as the responses from others. May You Be Blessed with continued success, health, and peace of mind!!
But this isn't true. MJadates extend for beyond just the relious ones. For example the requirement for vaginal ultrasound probes in Virginia and elswhere. The mandat in arizona requiring one to tel one's emplyer if one takes birth contro bills. The requrient to require doctors to lie about cancer and brith contro in both Arizona and Kandas laws.
Rick Santorum is waywer. Does he support Madates requiring doctors to lieabout medicner? what kind of lawyer is that.
It is really time to stop screwing around and solidify behind one candidate. Obvious Romney is the most likely one to be nominated and has the best chance of stopping Obama. Our only focus has to be on getting this great country back on track. Last time we elected a president for history...now we need to elect a president for our future!!
Yep Romney is really going to show Obama, a good 50% of the GOP can't stand the eel and nothing he has said at this point offers any better ideas than Bush, he shape shifts to whatever the audience de jour wants to hear. The party of no is not going to win this time without any good ideas... Obama isn't perfect but you guys are crazy.
IMHO, the ones that don't like Romney will either back their party or stay home. I think it's going to be a close race, but I will contribute and vote for keeping Obama in office.
We don't need one of these GOP, social issue morons imposing their personal beliefs on us from the White House. They cry small government, but somehow that includes coming into your bedroom and telling you how you should conduct your life.
Perfect??????? This guy is trying and will reshape our entire way of living. I am not worried about me, I am concerned about my 15 year old son.
It is the same old rhetoric from the left: "party of no" "no good ideas" Bush is the cause". Your nonsense is typical of the dems, and proves that this administration needs to divide Americans in order to succeed. It is the most divisive influence that I can remember. I would prefer to live free, work hard to earn the life style that I deserve. not sit and wait for the government to pay my way!!!
Smarten up and look around.
CT, you should take your own advise, because it's obvious that you're not right now.
Oh you mean by trying to legislate away birth control? No wait thats the GOP
By trampling women's rights? No wait that is also the GOP
By invading privacy, no wait that started under Bush
By changing healthcare? Well Obamacare is pretty close to Mitt Romney's own version in MA
By increasing taxes? They are the lowest they've been in 50 years, and we have 2 wars to pay for.
We've gone from losing 800,000 jobs a month under Bush's failed leadership to gaining some, the guy has done everything in his power to turn around the mess that was left in his lap with nothing but fearmongering and divisiveness from the right since day 1. If you think Romney is the answer, you are either part of the 1% or have your nose up their rear so far you only hear muffled blurbs of what is going on around you, but for those of us who care about facts and about the future of our country and it's middle class Obama is far from the worst option this election.
bull crap he saved the future of this country after your people tanks it!
How did Obama divide the country? He proposed several bi-partisan ideas and even some that were originally republican, yet the right wing decided to say no to everything and do everything they could to unjustly demonize him. If you're looking for the ones who divided this country, look no further than the fear-mongering racist right wing. They'd prefer to send us into third world status than to see Obama and our country succeed.
GW Bush:
Repeal the 4th Amendment! No, wait…we’d better call it…the “Patriot Act”! Repeal the 1st Amendment (HR 347)? NDAA Indefinite Detention of U.S. Citizens? Spy Drones in U.S. air space? No, not yet. We’ll let Obama do those ones. Then we’ll be sure to win the House and the Senate back and eliminate the Constitution once and for all. Just make sure you find Republican candidates who will follow the agenda. Otherwise, put Obama back in since he already supports our agenda - the people really love that guy.
Romney:
Hmmm… Pro-Business? Or Pro-Corporate Elitist? Honey, help me out will ya? You have a straighter face than I do. Well, you know, I don’t know much about the Constitution or how to shred what’s left of it, but I was assured the new foreign policy team will tell me what to do. Well, I do agree with Obama on some things – I support the Patriot Act and the TSA, yeah, and the NDAA too since the Constitution isn’t upheld anymore. And there’s no reason to audit the Fed. It’s only a few tens of billions of dollars that were stolen from the people, and we certainly don’t want to upset our interests or the bankers.
Gingrich:
Simple. I’ll tell Floridians that I’ll put a “colony” on the moon. Trust me, they’ll believe it. They believe Mitt and Rick, don’t they? No, no, they have short memories - they have no recollection whatsoever that I wrote that the Constitution should be replaced. But I could always cover that up by using Paul’s lines if they’d ever get him out of the news media. And no, I have no interest in debating with Paul anymore.
Santorum:
Really? CREW (Citizens for Ethics and Responsibility in Washington) listed me as one of the top most corrupted Senators? Well I had to vote to raise the debt ceiling 5 times, and for the $7.2 Trillion in unfunded liabilities. I know, I know, I did vote against the 4th, 5th and 10th Amendments – do you think anyone really cares anymore? But at least I did tell them to “go vote for Ron Paul” if they wanted less intrusive government!
Obama:
Well, let me you tell you, the Constitution is “deeply flawed” - I’ve been working on that. We’re much safer now, now that I have implemented Spy Drones in the U.S. And I can assassinate or detain anybody indefinitely without being bothered by that due process mumbo-jumbo. Don’t worry about those meddlesome protesters, I’ve eliminated the 1st Amendment by signing HR 347. On March 16, 2012 I’ve also called for even more secrecy in Government. But they’ll still vote for me, I’m a Democrat!
NoOneButPaul2012!
Paul: "America was a great place in 1880. Let's go back to those days! No central bank. No involvement in foreign affairs. Allies? Don't call us, we'll call you. Enemies? We must have hurt your feelings; sorry about that, we'll leave you alone. The deficit? Easy: let's cut one trillion in spending the first year. That will completely tank our economy, but so what? Social Security and Medicare? Who needs them? Civil rights? Who needs them? Unions? Who needs them? Every man for himself, you know. What do we need a government for, anyway?
(Fortunately, there is no way a right-wing extremist nut job like Ron Paul will ever become President.)
You are highly mis-informed.
Paul promised to keep SS and Medicare since it's already paid into. I fully trust him because he has NEVER waivered on positions.
Civil Rights???? Re-read my entire post above. Obama and the other 3 R candidates are doing a great job of scrapping them. Happy about that? Then go vote for one of those anti-Americans.
My vote goes to NoOneButPaul2012!
Hmmm...The Republican Party has depended on their "Southern Strategy" since Richard Nixon to win elections. I suspect the message is that it is time they had a chance to pick the Party's candidate...and that person isn't Romney.
Santorum is a whiner. "Romney out spent me." He conveniently leaves out that Governor Romney had to work with a democrat controlled legislature with a majority large enough to over ride any veto.
Romney "BIG GOVERNMENT HEAVY WEIGHT" ? He's been gov. of Mass , so how does that make him a heavyweight. The only thing that Romney is heavy on is -he is a big windbag. He likes to fire people and he likes cheezy grits-he's a suckup and will say anything to get a vote. He's even a bigger windbag than his late father Sir George Romney. Romney has the personality of a tounge tied windbag, not that of a statesman....
Santorum is just a plain idiot.......the only reason he is doing well at all is ,a vote for him is a protest vote against Romney and Gingrich......
I can't believe this is the best the Republican Party can bring to the table... Regardless who the nominee is...and believe me...I'm not happy with the selection so far... "ANYTHING" will be better than having another 4 year of Obama...
Can you honestly say that looking at Romney's @!$%# eating grin? Pretty much every measurable area has improved since Bush left, Romney is just going to revert us back to his old economy and job killing policies.
...haven't seen any improvements with Obama myself...which is the only reason we need to find "leadership"... not good speeches
Mike, if you truly believe that you must be getting all your information from chain e-mails or Fox news because your opinion is not grounded in reality.
No information needed...just the way the past four years have gone under poor leadership...thats all... I make my own opinion...not that of others... maybe you should turn off the TV and look around... ?
Mike, in the past 3 years since Obama took office things have gotten better.
When he took office we were losing 700K jobs per month, everything was in a rapid downward spiral. Or is that all still happening in your world?
It takes time to recover from the worst recession since the great depression. It took a lot of effort to keep the recession from becoming a depression.
We're recovering slowly. No thanks to big corps who are wringing everything humanly possible out of a smaller workforce at higher profits.
This is why the repubs are having problems: we haven't had four years of obama: do your math...how much are you being paid by mitt to go on to websites and say this stupid stuff? Ask yourself...would a Christian campaign like romeny?
Whoever eventually wins the Republican nomination is damaged goods
Ricky either is not smart enough to realize that he is the Barry Goldwater of 2012 or is so egotistical that he is willing to trash the Republicans' hopes for the general election for his own glory. Either way, he is an awful choice for the Republican presidential candidate.
Anything is better than another four years of Obama? Don't forget which party would have put "Simple Sarah" within reach of the White House.
we will never know...right? But we do know that we had a bad four years with Obama...
'bad four years' any economist would tell you would have been exponentially worse under any republican.
What would this financial crisis have looked like if we had let the market correct itself? We (but not any of the candidates) would all be living in tents, lining up at soup kitchens for our one meal a day. I realize I am describing the Republican party dream, but just like protecting ourselves from the weather, we want to protect ourselves from a "free market".
This name calling is not palatable folks.
The ideal approach would be to elect me for the following reasons...
Rather don't pick my opponent because hi is this, or that...
Then I realize...having to rely upon the name calling is simply a reflection of the fact that
Neither of them has value to be elected.
Is this the truth or what?
The ideal approach would be to elect me for the following reasons...
_____________________________________________________
Reasons to elect Santorum ->
* You do not believe in separation of Church and State but rather want the United States to be fake-Christian theocracy.
Reasons to elect Romney->
* You believe the economy should be run by a governor who was 48th out 50th in job growth during his tenor.
* You believe the economy should be run by a governor whose state lost manufacturing jobs in every single one of his 4 years in office.
* You believe the best way to build the economy is to buy up companies, bankrupt them, sell off the spare parts, outsource the jobs overseas and rake in huge profits for stockholders (ie you!).
* You believe the military should be run by a draft dodger, who hid in France until the Vietnam War draft was over.
* You believe the President should be a super-wealthy individual who hides his money in Cayman Islands tax shelters.
* You believe the President should be someone who implements govt. mandated health care at the state level, advocates *national* govt. mandated health care, and then -repudiates- his own actions and recommendations because he thinks the American people are simply too stupid, to remember what he actually did, himself!
looks like you took care of both the republicans and democrats... none of which are ones to be voted into office...