Rick Santorum Vows To Cut Taxes, Spending Within First 100 Days In Office If Elected President

LINCOLN PARK, Mich. — Republican Rick Santorum vowed Friday to cut government spending, regulations and entitlement programs during his first 100 days in office if elected president.

Santorum told Michigan voters that social welfare programs have made millions of Americans dependent on government for the kind of help that churches and civic groups used to provide.

When that happens, "we become detached from our neighbors," he said. The government should remain "the ultimate safety net," he said, providing only "a hand up, not a handout."

"Poverty is not a disability," Santorum told about 200 people in the Detroit suburb of Lincoln Park. People must realize they "can rise through a struggle," he said.

He said "means-tested" entitlement programs should be turned over to the states, and have time limits imposed for recipients. The plan would "save money and save lives," he said.

Santorum's campaign had billed his 55-minute speech as a major announcement of his agenda for his first 100 days in office. But the proposals were familiar ones. They included steep cuts in spending and regulations, and the repeal of "Obamacare," the 2010 Democratic-crafted health care overhaul.

Santorum said people who lose money when selling their houses should be allowed to take a tax deduction on their loss. Otherwise, he said, the government should get out of the housing and mortgage industry and let the private market return the troubled sector to equilibrium.

He repeated his calls for a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution and an aggressive program of drilling for more domestic oil and gas.

As usual, Santorum sharply criticized President Barack Obama on several fronts, and took a few swipes at his chief GOP rival, Mitt Romney.

He said the health care program that Romney initiated as Massachusetts governor has proven ineffective, a claim Romney disputes. Santorum also said Romney's proposal to limit tax deductions for charitable gifts by rich people would hurt churches and civic organizations.

Santorum's speech went past 9 p.m., limiting local news organizations' ability to highlight his 100-day agenda.

The Michigan and Arizona primaries are Tuesday.

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Comments

[jerdan25]

11:42 AM on 03/03/2012

He will cut all welfare programs and let the children starve. He doesn't believe in birth control but wants to cut all social programs. I for one do not want to see the kids suffer under his command. Also, he will cut out public schools, he thinks all kids should be home schooled. Yah Right, everyone I know is working all day long, who will teach the kids. Get real Santorum, not everyone has a wife at home to teach the kids or can afford private schooling.

[l78lancer]

05:44 PM on 02/26/2012

Santorum needs to go back and read the New York Times article of 2/12/12 that talks about people receiving "government assistance." The majority of them come from red states. The majority of those recipients don't even call their government assistance government assistance. The majority of them don't want to even admit to receiving or needing government assistance, and the majority of them don't know what they would do without it. And while most republicans would deny the viability of the report (after all that liber NY Times can't be telling the truth even though the information is based on the government's own data) many will still try to say that "other" people are the ones really receiving government assistance.

Ricky Rooster talks a lot of talk, but most of it is unsubstantiated garbage.

[l78lancer]

05:37 PM on 02/26/2012

Poverty may not be a disability, but it certainly is debilitating to the poor when they are told that they must rise on their own efforts because things that re really benefits are false called entitlements and are eliminated, yet the very people who have the majority of the wealth - much of it through government assistance, are given that assistance to continue their climb.

That is a hypocritical and nefarious message.

[daveat1910]

10:08 AM on 02/26/2012

Santorum foolish pandering for votes versus reality- he would just force social programs to the states, underfund the mandate- federal deficet solved- simple.

[Freedomaphile]

09:53 AM on 02/26/2012

I believe you can already take a tax deduction if you lose money on the sale of a house.

Not that it is going to do you much good if the reason you had to sell the house was that you have no income.

[pogo]

09:52 AM on 02/26/2012

It's the "others." The "others" aren't like us. It's the "others" who get "handouts." When we get subsidies and entitlements, it's only because unlike the "others," we deserve them.

[Freedomaphile]

09:50 AM on 02/26/2012

"a hand up, not a handout."

The typical sound bite that Republicans love. No, specifics on how he plans to do that "hand up".

[MyDawg1967]

09:18 AM on 02/26/2012

"The government should remain "the ultimate safety net," he said, providing only "a hand up, not a handout."

With that said is Santorum willing to END BIG OIL subsidies?! They been getting 4 BILLION worth of hand outs for DECADES! Yeah of course NOT.

[RonP58]

08:53 AM on 02/26/2012

....more campaign rhetoric, from the MAN and the PARTY of NO IDEAS....

you guys, TeaPublicans, destroyed our economy and way of life....and have NO CLUE how to put it back together again...

Your archaic and out-dated mentality and ideas have no place in the NEW WORLD ECONOMY......insulating the economy from outside influences and believing that we still "hold all the marbles" is insulting and dangerous....

Get over yourself...it's not as simple as "cutting taxes"....there has to be a balance of spending cuts, appropriate spending cuts AND tax increases....namely for the RICH who are enjoying a plethora of breaks that Middle Americans DON'T get...

Oh, excuse me, the "Job Creators"...we have to be clear that in order to "frame" the Rich in a "better light"...we have to use job creators...funny thing....where are the jobs coming from?....Certainly NOT the job creators.....

[missmanners]

08:34 AM on 02/26/2012

… not a handout."

Then why did he charge his district for his children’s cyber school?

[pogo]

09:49 AM on 02/26/2012

Because instead of a normal, responsible sized family, he has a litter.

[Scooterfoot]

07:53 AM on 02/26/2012

Maybe someone should give him one of those WWJD wrist bands. Because all this pontificating and "vows" he is making are probably not what Jesus would do.

[johntangier]

07:42 AM on 02/26/2012

RICK, NOW EXPLAIN TO US HOW YOU WILL DO THAT WITHOUT HAVING IT PASSED IN THE HOUSE AND THE SENATE?

[retiredfemale]

12:33 AM on 03/04/2012

thank you for bring that up, maybe he forgot how it works? Some of the stuff he says is so out there. I can't believe he or the people around him don't check facts before they let him speak.

[Shozen]

06:51 AM on 02/26/2012

I too think the poor in this nation deserve a "hand up" rather than a "hand dout;" however what Republican governments do is what I would call a "slap down."

[jmdziuban1]

08:50 AM on 02/26/2012

They're already down, I think what the republicans are doing is called a "kick".

[B Childs]

02:35 AM on 02/26/2012

Yes, all 300 million people in the U.S. can achieve financial success by working just a little bit harder. With enough effort, no one will have to abandon their dream career to take whatever job they can find, if one can be found at all. Everyone who works really hard with a goal become a V.P. of Finance, or the next CEO of XYZ corporation, there is nothing standing in the way but determination, effort and personal will. There is actually room at the top for everyone who has enough drive to get there. Then we will have no one to clean offices or hotel rooms, no one to drive trucks and deliver goods to businesses, no one to stock grocery shelves or collect garbage from the curb. Just a whole citizenry with executive perks, 70 hour work weeks and golden parachutes. Yes - hard work, sacrifices, determination, drive, discipline, etc are all key to achieve the kind of "success" espoused by Mittens, Ricky, Newton, and everyone else who smirk at those who have to compromise ambition to pay the bills. Yet it is an astoundingly egregious lie to insinuate that such characteristics are certain to yield success, i.e. wealth. Let's be honest and admit that the majority of us have no choice but to settle for far less than our dreams, because there isn't room at the top for more than a select few. I'm not saying that is fixable. We just need to acknowledge reality.

[sgraham59]

02:13 AM on 02/26/2012

Sweater Vest Jeebus Want's All The Hand Outs For Himself

[pmoschetta]

05:05 AM on 02/26/2012

According to his tax plan, he adds $1 trillion dollars to our deficit in his first year as POTUS, so how he would cut spending is probably on Education, EPA, Social Security and Medicare, because his tax cuts for the wealthy are as extreme as Mitt's and Newt's