Rick Santorum has embraced the same philosophy that created the economic crisis. His tax plan would primarily benefit the very wealthy while adding $900 billion to the national deficit. And it would be a disaster for middle class families. Santorum has attacked the very idea of public education and criticized the Paul Ryan plan that would end Medicare as we know it because it did not go far enough. He opposed extending the payroll tax cut that saves the typical middle class family $1,000. And he opposed rescuing the auto industry which saved 1.4 million American jobs.
President Obama has put in place policies that helped the economy add 3.7 million private sector jobs over the past 23 months, rescued the American auto industry and helped the American manufacturing industry create jobs again for the first time since the late 1990s.
SANTORUM’S TAX PLAN PRIMARILY BENEFITS MILLIONAIRES AND BILLIONAIRES WHILE EXPLODING THE DEFICIT…
Tax Policy Center: Santorum’s Tax Plan Would Give The Top 0.1 Percent An Average Tax Cut Of $1.3 Million And Add $900 Billion To The Deficit In 2015. “As always, measuring the effect of the Santorum tax plan depends on whether or not you assume the 2001-2010 tax cuts are extended. But either way, both the tax cuts for high-income households and the increase in the deficit would be enormous. Even if you assume the 2011 law is made permanent, the top 0.1 percent (who make more than $2.9 million and average $8.4 million) would get an average tax cut of more than $1.3 million in 2015. By contrast, a typical household making less than $20,000 would get a tax cut of $39. Middle-income households making between about $50,000 and $75,000 would get a tax cut of about $2,000. This largess would add about $900 billion to the deficit in 2015.” [Tax Policy Center, 1/19/12]
AEI Senior Fellow Kevin Hassett: “It Is Just Not A Defensible Plan.” “I am a growth optimist, and am sure that the true cost of his plan would be far less than my back of the envelope calculation suggests because a surging economy would lead to increased revenues. But the static scoring exercise just sketched is a taste of things to come for Santorum. The sad fact is that no serious individual would ever spend any effort trying to get such a thing through Congress. It is just not a defensible plan.” [Kevin Hassett, AEI, 1/6/12]
Tax Policy Center: Santorum’s Plan “Cleverly Melds the Interests Of Social Conservatives And Business” But He Will “Have To Explain The Huge Hole He’d Blow In The Budget.” “Santorum’s plan cleverly melds the interests of social conservatives and business. This should play well in future GOP primaries. If he somehow gets the nomination, he’ll still have to explain the huge hole he’d blow in the budget.” [Tax Policy Center, 1/3/12]
Santorum Called For Eliminating the Estate Tax. “Among the plan's proposals: reducing the nation's personal income tax rates to just two: 10% and 28%; eliminating both the Alternative Minimum Tax and the estate tax that conservatives deride as the "death tax;" dropping capital gains and dividend tax rates down to 12%; cutting corporate taxes from 35% to 17.5%; and eliminating corporate taxes for manufacturers.” [CNN, 11/18/11]
…BUT HIS POLICIES WOULD BE EVEN WORSE FOR THE MIDDLE CLASS
SANTORUM HAS ATTACKED THE IDEA OF PUBLIC EDUCATION
Santorum Referred To Public Schools As “Factories” And Said Public Support For Education Is An “Anachronism.” “Speaking to the Ohio Christian Alliance, Santorum went so far as to refer to public schools as ‘factories’ and say that federal or state support for education is an ‘anachronism.’… On Saturday, he went further, seeming to attack the very idea of public education. In the nation's past, he said, ‘Most presidents home-schooled their children in the White House.… Parents educated their children because it was their responsibility. Yes, the government can help, but the idea that the federal government should be running schools, frankly much less that the state government should be running schools, is anachronistic.’ (Aside from schools for the children of military personnel, the federal government does not actually operate schools. Most U.S. schools are supported primarily by state or local funding, or a combination of the two.) Santorum said the public education system was an artifact of the Industrial Revolution, ‘when people came off the farms where they did home school or had a little neighborhood school, and into these big factories … called public schools.’" [LA Times, 2/19/12]
SANTORUM THINKS THE PAUL RYAN PLAN DID NOT GO FAR ENOUGH
Santorum: “I Don’t Think Paul Ryan Goes Far Enough.” “Presidential candidate and former U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum tells Newsmax that he believes Rep. Paul Ryan’s plan for overhauling Medicare doesn’t go far enough in dealing with the deficit problem… In an exclusive interview with Newsmax.TV, Santorum was asked about the spending reduction plan proposed by Ryan, chairman of the House Budget Committee, which would eventually overhaul the Medicare program. ‘I support in principle what Paul Ryan is suggesting,’ Santorum says. ‘The only concern I have is I don’t think Paul Ryan goes far enough. The problem is now. There’s a $1.4 trillion deficit now. We’re on a path where any day now, credit markets could say we can’t continue to keep the credit rating the United States has.’” [Newsmax, 6/20/11]
- WSJ: “The [GOP Budget] Plan Would Essentially End Medicare.” “The plan would essentially end Medicare, which now pays most of the health-care bills for 48 million elderly and disabled Americans, as a program that directly pays those bills.” [Wall Street Journal, 4/4/11]
- The GOP Budget Would Force Seniors To Pay Twice As Much. The Republican budget would end the traditional Medicare program for those 55 and under and essentially convert it into a voucher program. The budget forces seniors into a more expensive private plan. In 2022, a typical 65-year-old would have to pay $6,400 more in health care expenses, or twice the amount they would under the current system. [LA Times,4/7/11]
SANTORUM OPPOSES EXTENDING THE PAYROLL TAX CUT
Santorum Said He Would Not Vote To Extend The Payroll Tax Cut For Another Year: “No. No, I Wouldn’t.” “BLITZER: Well, let me just interrupt and ask the question then. I take it you're not with John Boehner or Mitch McConnell. You wouldn't vote to extend the payroll tax cut for another year. SANTORUM: No. No, I wouldn't.” [CNN, The Situation Room, 12/21/11]
SANTORUM OPPOSED THE RESCUE OF THE AMERICAN AUTO INDUSTRY
Santorum: “We Should Not Have Had The Auto Bailout” Instead They Should Have “Gone Through A Structured Bankruptcy Without The Federal Government.” “SANTORUM: No, absolutely not. We should -- we should not have had a TARP. We should not have had the auto bailout. Governor Romney's right. They could have gone through a structured bankruptcy without the federal government. All the federal government did was basically tip to the cronies, tip to the unions, gave the unions the company. If they'd have gone through the orderly bankruptcy process, gone through a structured bankruptcy, they'd have come out in the same place, only we would have kept the integrity of the bankruptcy process without the government putting its fingers into it.” [Real Clear Politics, 6/14/11]
- Moody’s Chief Economist Mark Zandi: Without Government Assistance, The Big Three Will Go Bankrupt And Be Liquidated, Resulting In Hundreds Of Thousands Of Layoffs. [Hearing Of Senate Banking Committee, 12/4/08]
- Bush Adviser Keith Hennessey: GM And Chrysler Would Have Likely Been Liquidated Without Government Loans. [KeithHennessey.com, 3/9/09]
- Center For Automotive Research: The Auto Rescue “Averted Certain Economic Catastrophe Had The Companies Been Allowed To Fail.” [Center For Automotive Research, 12/17/2010]
Center For Automotive Research: The Auto Industry Rescue Saved Over 1.1 Million Jobs In 2009, And More Than 310,000 Jobs In 2010. [CAR Report, 11/7/10]
- One In Every 25 US Workers Rely On A Healthy Auto Industry For Their Employment. [CAR Industry Contribution Report, 4/21/10]
In 2011, The American Auto Industry Added 101,600 Jobs. [BLS.gov, Accessed 2/6/12]
- This Represents The Industry’s Strongest Year Of Job Growth Since 1994. [BLS.gov, Accessed 2/6/12]
Since GM And Chrysler Exited Bankruptcy In June Of 2009, The Auto Industry Has Added Over 207,000 Jobs. [data.bls.gov, Accessed 2/6/12]
- The Center For Automotive Research: US Auto Industry Will Add As Many As 150,000 New Jobs Over The Next Four Years. [Wall Street Journal, 11/29/11]
For The First Time In Seven Years, The Detroit Three Are All Profitable. [Associated Press, 5/2/11]
- For The First Time In 23 Years, All Three Detroit Automakers Have Gained Market Share. [Detroit Free Press, 12/12/11]
February 2012: GM Posted Its Largest Annual Profit In History, Earning $7.6 Billion. [The New York Times, 2/24/11]
- General Motors Has Regained The Title Of World’s Largest Automaker, Selling 9 Million Vehicles In 2011. [Los Angeles Times, 1/20/12]
February 2012: Chrysler Posted Its First Yearly Profit Since 1997. [Associated Press, 2/1/12]
THE ECONOMY HAS NOW ADDED NEARLY 3.7 MILLION PRIVATE SECTOR JOBS OVER THE LAST 23 CONSECUTIVE MONTHS OF JOB GROWTH
The U.S. Economy Has Added Nearly 3.7 Million Private Sector Jobs In The Last 23 Months. [data.bls.gov, accessed 2/3/2012]
Private Sector Job Growth Has Continued For 23 Consecutive Months. [data.bls.gov, accessed 2/3/2012]
MANUFACTURING IS A BRIGHT SPOT IN THE RECOVERY, WITH ANNUAL JOB GROWTH FOR THE FIRST TIME SINCE 1997
Manufacturing Has Added 404,000 Jobs Since January 2010. [data.bls.gov, accessed 2/16/2012]
The Manufacturing Sector Expanded For The 30th Consecutive Month Through January 2012. [ISM Report On Business, 2/3/2012]
New York Times: “Manufacturing Is A Surprising Bright Spot In The U.S. Economy.” [New York Times, 1/5/2012]
New York Times: “Until Last Year, There Had Not Been A Single Year When Manufacturing Employment Rose Since 1997.” [New York Times, 1/5/2012]
