Santorum's 10th Amendment Hypocrisy!

Rick Santorum appears to be a decent conservative candidate who gained a lot of momentum with his three recent victories. Still, Santorum has had the luxury of flying under the radar so we don't really know how he will stand up the increased scrutiny whereas Romney has been attacked by Santorum, Gingrich, Perry, Paul, Huntsman, Obama, the DNC, etc. Ron Paul is the only candidate to have really criticized Santorum, even though Santorum has been extremely negative toward Gingrich and Romney for many weeks.


Santorum's main talking point has been the individual mandate. In particular, he has hammered Romney relentlessly on RomneyCare claiming it to be "government-run top-down medicine." He is clearly not buying Romney's 10th Amendment argument nor his pledge to repeal ObamaCare since he enacted RomneyCare as a Governor. In the Florida debate, he said, "According to Governor Romney, that's OK. If the state [enacts a mandate], that's OK. If the state wants to enforce it, that's OK." Romney has claimed that his State - dominated by democrats - wanted health care reform so he did it in the most conservative way possible. Santorum dismisses this argument saying that principle matters more.


Santorum is obviously against the individual mandate, but where he gets into trouble is when he refuses to accept that there are differences between Federal ObamaCare and State RomneyCare. He appears to be glossing over the 10th Amendment argument. This may be problematic for him considering his 10th Amendment/representative government defense for voting against a right-to-work bill. He claims that his state didn't want it so - even though it is a conservative principle based on the Constitution - he didn't want to go against his state. Below is the transcript of a debate he had with Ron Paul:


MR. SANTORUM: Congressman Paul knows, because we've talked about this before, I've already signed a pledge and said I would sign a national right-to-work bill. And when I was a senator from Pennsylvania, which is a state that is not a right-to-work state, the state made a decision not to be right to work. And I wasn't going to go to Washington and overturn that from the federal government and do that to the state. That's a very different -- different position.

REP. PAUL: May I --

MR. KING: Quickly, sir.

REP. PAUL: Yeah, the response should be, yes, I understand that. That's the way politics works: You voted the way you thought was best --

MR. SANTORUM: Well, representative government.

REP. PAUL: -- yeah -- for your state. (Applause.) But as president, are you going to represent South Carolina or Pennsylvania? That's really the question. (Applause.)

MR. SANTORUM: Well, maybe -- maybe you didn't hear what I said. I said I would support a national right-to-work law and sign it into law, and would support and advocate for one. (Applause.)


Full Transcript


So, he voted against a state right-to-work bill because the State didn't want it and he wanted to respect "representative government." But, he has pledged that if elected President, he "would support a national right-to-work law and sign it into law, and would support and advocate for one." Sounds somewhat similar to Romney's take on RomneyCare, except that the 10th Amendment argument is reversed. Romney's argument is pro-10th Amendment, while Santorum's argument is pro-Federal government. One can argue differences between right-to-work and a mandate, but the similarities between the arguments/justifications cannot easily be dismissed.


Santorum said, "I wasn't going to go to Washington and overturn that from the federal government and do that to the state." He wouldn't do it to his State as a Senator, but he would do it to ALL States as President? That is not a strong 10th Amendment position.


In addition, given Santorum's reluctance to accept Romney at his word regarding whether he would actually repeal ObamaCare if given the opportunity, it is important to note Santorum's pledge to advocate for and sign into law a right-to-work bill, even though he opposed it in Pennsylvania. Can he be taken at his word? If Romney can't be trusted, then how can Santorum?


Oh yeah, he also fully endorsed Romney as a Conservative in 2008 (2 years after RomneyCare was enacted): “In a few short days, Republicans from across this country will decide more than their party’s nominee. They will decide the very future of our party and the conservative coalition that Ronald Reagan built. Conservatives can no longer afford to stand on the sidelines in this election, and Governor Romney is the candidate who will stand up for the conservative principles that we hold dear.  Governor Romney has a deep understanding of the important issues confronting our country today, and he is the clear conservative candidate that can go into the general election with a united Republican party.” Rick Santorum, February 1, 2008