Santorum Is A Conservative By Reputation, But Not By Deed
“Ladies and gentlemen, I don't stand here to claim to be the conservative alternative to Mitt Romney. I stand here to be the conservative alternative to Barack Obama.”
That's what Rick Santorum said after Republican voters in Missouri, Minnesota, and Colorado gave him impressive victories this week over his Republican competitors. It is an awful, almost idiotic statement. Both for what it concedes and for what it claims. As to the latter, I have a house plant that's a conservative alternative to Barack Obama. No more need be said on that point.
As to the former, Santorum concedes that he's not a conservative alternative to Mitt Romney. How could he? Santorum was a pro-union congressman-turned-senator for 16 years, with notable votes against the National Right to Work Act and for the Davis-Bacon prevailing (read: union) wage law. He voted to increase the minimum wage six times and tried to put a union representative on an IRS oversight board. He also voted to exempt IRS union representatives from criminal ethics laws.
For a country finally coming to grips with the public policy problems with unions---particularly government employee unions---Santorum would make an awful national leader. Don't get me wrong, he's saying the right words now, but back when he was in Congress he wasn't exactly on our side. He excuses himself, of course:
"And you need to remember, I was from the state of Pennsylvania. State of Pennsylvania does not have a right to work law. The state legislature and our governor for a long time had rules in place that were inconsistent with right to work."And I wasn't, as United States senator, representing the states of Pennsylvania going to go down and by federal vote change the law on the state. I believe the state has the right. If they want a union dues requirement, that the state should be able to do that."
So he stood for state's rights on the union issue. Conservatives may find something admirable in that, I suppose. At least we know he's familiar with the Tenth Amendment, unlike Obama and the Democrats. Oh, wait: More
