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[[Image:SantorumConcedes.jpg|right|400px|thumb{{Officeholder|name=Rick Santorum and his family announcing his concession in the 2006 election.]]'''|image=Rick Santorum''' served as .jpg|party=[[United StatesRepublican]] |spouse=Karen Garver|religion=[[SenatorRoman Catholic]] from [[|offices= {{Officeholder/senator |state=Pennsylvania]] from |terms=January3, 1995 through – January3, 2007. During that time, Santorum was known for his staunchly [[conservative]] political views. Claims by [[liberals]] that he was out of the mainstream appeared to have been validated in 2006, when |preceded=Harris Wofford |succeeded=[[Bob Casey, Jr.]], the son of a popular former }} {{Officeholder/representative |state=Pennsylvania governor |district=18th |terms=January 3, defeated Santorum by capturing 59% of the popular vote for U.S. Senator. 1991 – January 3, 1995 |preceded=Doug Walgren |succeeded=Mike Doyle }}}}

In 2005After garnering the support of conservatives nationwide for his presidential bid, Santorum made a failed bid then reverted to pass legislation that would have limited the information his prior habit of endorsing liberal Republicans. He double-crossed conservative leaders by endorsing the [[National Weather ServiceRINO]] could provide to the public, with the intention of promoting the pro-[[PennsylvaniaPlanned Parenthood]]-based firm [[AccuWeatherJon Bruning]]<ref>for the Republican nomination for [[http://wwwU.nndbS.com/people/035/000025957/ Notable Names Database: Rick SantorumSenate]</ref>. Though the NWS's warnings about ] in [[Hurricane KatrinaNebraska]] contained such language as "MOST OF THE AREA WILL BE UNINHABITABLE FOR WEEKS..in 2012.PERHAPS LONGER"<ref>[http://wwwatr.srhrollcall.noaa.govcom/data/warn_archivenebraska-rick-santorum-backs-jon-bruning-for-senate/LIX/NPW/0828_214001.txt NWS Urgent Weather Bulletin August 28, 2005]</ref> Leading [[conservatives]], Santorum criticized the bodyincluding [[Rand Paul]], saying that it gave insufficient warning.<ref>[http://www.post[Jim DeMint]] and [[Club for Growth]], have instead unanimously endorsed [[pro-gazettelife]] [[Don Stenberg]] in that race.com/pg/05253/569133.stm Santorum Criticizes Weather Service's candidate, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette]</ref>Jon Bruning, then lost in a stinging upset defeat to a third candidate in the race.

==Iraqi War==In June of 2006, Santorum called a news conference to announce that Endorsed by the [[weapons of mass destructionpro-life]] had been found in Iraq [[Susan B. Anthony List|Susan B. Anthony]] organization,<ref name="FoxNews">[httphttps://www.foxnews.com/storypolitics/2012/02/17/susan-b-anthony-list-to-endorse-santorum/0,2933,200499,00.html Fox News Report on Santorum's Press Conference]</ref> As evidence, he cited Santorum was a Defense Department report that degraded chemical weapons had been found strong candidate in Iraqthe [[2012 Republican Primary]]. He claimed that this report refuted After winning [[Louisiana]] on March 25, 2012 - his 11th victory in the primary race - the [[DemocratNew York Times]] claim noted that no "not since [[WMDRonald Reagan]]s had been foundin 1976 has a conservative candidate won as many states as Santorum has."<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/25/us/politics/santorum-projected-winner-of-louisiana-primary.html?_r=1]</ref> He suspended his campaign on April 10, 2012, citing personal reasons.<ref>https://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/04/10/santorum</ref>

<br blockquote>Santorum was an author and floor manager of the landmark "Welfare Reform Act" which passed in 1996 that has empowered millions of Americans to leave the welfare rolls and enter the workforce. Senator Santorum wrote and championed legislation that outlawed the heinous procedure known as "Partial Birth Abortion" as well as the "Born Alive Infants Protection Act", the "Unborn Victims of Violence Act", and the "Combating Autism Act" because he believes each and every individual has value and the most vulnerable in our society need to be protected. Senator Santorum fought to maintain fiscal sanity in Washington before it was in fashion, fighting for a balanced budget and a line item veto.<ref>[http://www.ricksantorum.com/why-rick Why Rick?]</ref>Officials </blockquote> A movement among [[liberals]], and particularly [[homosexual]] activists, vilified Santorum for his clear and forthright statements regarding [[traditional marriage]] and condemnation of homosexuality. In the Senate, Santorum stood for traditional values and fought for traditional marriage. His "[[Santorum Amendment]]" to the 'No Child Left Behind' Act sought unsuccessfully to stop public schools from presenting the [[theory of evolution]] in a dogmatic way and, instead, to present the alternative theory of [[intelligent design]]. In 2006 [[Bob Casey, Jr.]], the [[liberal]] son of a popular former Pennsylvania governor who had been [[pro-life]], defeated Santorum as part of a [[Democratic]] sweep in that election. Casey subsequently endorsed pro-[[abortion]] [[Barack Obama]] for president in 2008, and supported [[Obamacare]] with the excuse that less poverty would reduce the demand for abortions. 2012 Presidential candidate [[Ron Paul]] has accused Santorum of being a "counterfeit conservative" due to his quick willingness to compromise (such as supporting [[George W. Bush]]'s White House disagreed[[Medicare Part D]], refusing to aggressively stand up against funding [[Planned Parenthood]], and support for increasing the [[Department of Education]]).<ref>https://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-57383263-503544/santorum-fights-charges-hes-a-fake-conservative/</ref><ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cgNJBdTaKE8</ref> Santorum also endorsed [[RINO]]-turned-[[Democrat]] Arlen Specter.<ref>[https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/post/rick-santorums-greatest-sin-endorsing-arlen-specter/2012/02/24/gIQAD0sUXR_blog. html "Rick Santorum’s greatest sin: Endorsing Arlen Specter" ''Washington Post'']</ref> Candidates [[Mitt Romney]] and [[Newt Gingrich]] have also criticized Santorum's record. On May 27, 2015, Santorum announced his candidacy for the Republican nomination in the [[2016 presidential election]].<ref>https://www.foxnews.com/politics/2015/05/27/santorum-set-to-announce-2016-plans-wednesday/</ref> ==Liberal Obsession with Santorum== [[Liberals]] have become obsessed with Santorum, particularly after he stood up for traditional marriage and drew an analogy between support for [[homosexual marriage]] and other illegal forms of marriage and conduct. Rather than dispute the analogy, liberals were quick to [[liberal tricks|feign offense]]. They pointed argue that because the other kinds of conduct are so universally repulsive, pointing out the parallels with [[homosexual act]]s and homosexual marriage unduly disparages homosexuals. But they know the ugly truth—that homosexuality is just one step away on the slippery slope towards many other disgustingly immoral proclivities. They can only resort to [[liberal namecalling]] and personal attacks; it's gotten so pathetic that now they're dedicated to slandering his name by equating it with fecal matter, knowing full well they can't refute any of his arguments. ==Texas Sodomy Case, Dan Savage, & Lower-Case "santorum" Campaign== After the chemical weapons were not "Texas sodomy case" ('''''[[Lawrence v. Texas]]'''''), Rick Santorum remarked that if homosexuality was acceptable in usable conditionAmerica, [[incest]] and that these [[bestiality]] would also be acceptable. This was taken completely out of context - Santorum was referring to the actual decision of the Supreme Court, which declared '''''all''''' consensual sexual activity between adults, not merely homosexuality, to be a private matter which could not be regulated. Homosexual advice columnist [[Dan Savage]] instigated a campaign on [[Google]] to associate Santorum's name with vile slang, creating the lower-case term "santorum" to refer to something vulgar associated with gay sex. By enlisting the help of readers of his column, mostly college students experimenting with sexual deviancy, he redirected legitimate searches for Santorum's name to a slanderous website he created, urging people to spread the term "santorum" as a vile Internet meme.  That children are not often the WMDs this country first to absorb new Internet content was apparently of no concern to the gay rights activist, who also encouraged writers to his newspaper column to address him as "Dear Faggot."<ref>http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/SavageLove?oid=340</ref> ==2012 Presidential Race== On June 6, 2011,<ref>https://www.reuters.com/article/2011/06/06/us-usa-campaign-santorum-idUSTRE7551YL20110606</ref> Santorum announced his intention to run for the Republican Party nomination in the US Presidential election of 2012.<ref>https://www.politico.com/news/stories/0511/55772.html</ref> <blockquote>In the [[Iowa]] caucuses, January 3, 2012, Santorum and [[Mitt Romney]] Fight to a Draw. In the rest first Republican contest of the world believed Iraq hadseason, the two candidates were separated by only a sliver of votes, offering Rick Santorum a chance to emerge as the alternative to Mitt Romney.<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/04/us/politics/santorum-and not -romney-fight-to-a-draw.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all Romney Wins Iowa Caucus by 8 Vote]</ref> </blockquote> Despite doing well, getting approximately half the WMDs for which delegates of Romney, Rick Santorum surprisingly announced on April 10, 2012 that he was ending his campaign.==Personal life==Rick Santorum and his wife Karen are the parents of seven children: Elizabeth, John, Daniel, Sarah Maria, Peter, Patrick and Isabella. Isabella was born in 2008 with a rare genetic disorder known as Trisomy 18. Most children born with this country went disorder die in infancy, and only about 10 percent survive to wartheir first birthday."<ref name="FoxNewssantorum" >[http://www.ncregister.com/site/article%20/presidential-hopefuls-rick-santorum1/ Presidential Hopefuls: Rick Santorum, Catholic Former Senator Lives Out His Devotion to the Sanctity of Life] Hayes, Charlotte, National Catholic Register, January 9, 2012, retrieved January 15, 2012</ref> Bush administration officials In keeping with his conservative, including pro-life stance, Santorum counts as his eighth child Gabriel, who sadly lost his life in 1996 due to an infection contracted in the President himselfwomb. The baby was born five months prematurely, and died two hours later in the hospital. According to an article in the ''National Catholic Register'', the Santorums "took their child home briefly so that their other children could meet their brother." Santorum stated, "We wanted them to know that there was a baby and that his life was precious and that baby in the womb was real,"<ref name="WashTimessantorum"/> The Santorum family's struggle with the sadness of the loss of their son, and their decision to mourn the baby as a human being, served as an inspiration to other families struggling with the pain of losing a child. On the other hand, the criticism Santorum received from pro abortion journalists, such as liberal "gotcha reporter" Alan Colmes,<ref>[http://www.washingtontimeshumanevents.com/nationalarticle.php?id=48506</ref> who accused Santorum of "playing" with his dead child's body, has been fierce. Public sentiment, however, is firmly in Santorum's column.<ref>https://www.nationalreview.com/20060406media-112119blog/286998/alan-5897rcolmes-apologizes-rick-santorum-greg-pollowitz</ref> Santorum is a practicing Catholic.htm Washington <ref>Sokolove, Michael. "The Believer." May 22, 2005. The New York Times Report Magazine. https://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/22/magazine/22SANTORUM.html</ref> ==Political positions==Rick Santorum is emphatically pro-life and pro-family as described above, opposing abortion, homosexual "marriage", and the spread of pornography.<ref>"Where I Stand." Rick Santorum Presidential campaign website. http://www.ricksantorum.com/issues</ref> He does not believe that humans are causing [[global warming]], calling it "junk science." He favors increased production of [[fossil fuels]] in the U.S.<ref>Johnson, Brad and Somanader, Tanya. "Santorum: 'There's no such thing as global warming.'" June 24, 2011. Think Progress. http://thinkprogress.org/green/2011/06/24/253389/santorum-theres-no-such-thing-as-global-warming/</ref> Broadly, Santorum is in favor of reducing the size of government and reducing taxes. Some of the major economic and fiscal policy measures that he supports are:<ref>"Rick Santorum - The Economy." The Political Guide. http://www.thepoliticalguide.com/Profiles/Senate/Pennsylvania/Rick_Santorum/Views/The_Economy/</ref>*A [[balanced budget]] amendment*Cutting the corporate tax rate in half*Cutting the tax rate for manufacturers to zero*Simplifying the tax code for all*Repealing [[Obamacare]]*Repealing the Dodd-Frank Act*Eliminating the focus on WMDs[[green energy]] Santorum has opposed giving assistance to illegal immigrants,<ref>"Immigration Reform: Securing and Strengthening America." Rick Santorum Presidential campaign website. http://www.ricksantorum.com/immigration-reform-securing-and-strengthening-america</ref>supported the [[Iraq War]], have consistently <ref>"Rick Santorum - The Iraq War." The Political Guide. http://www.thepoliticalguide.com/Profiles/Senate/Pennsylvania/Rick_Santorum/Views/The_War_in_Iraq/</ref> opposed [[universal health care]],<ref>"Rick Santorum: Healthcare." Electful. http://electful.com/candidate/rick-santorum/issues/healthcare</ref> and supported the [[death penalty]] (although in recent years he has said the death penalty should be more limited).<ref>"Santorum Rethinks Death Penalty Support." March 23, 2005. Associated Press / Fox News. https://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,151241,00.html</ref> These four views are in opposition to the teachings of the [[Catholic Church]]. Santorum said that no WMDs [[Islam]] and democracy are not compatible. He believes that Muslims have been found in Iraqto implement [[Sharia]] law.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.news-press.com/article/20130323/NEWS0119/303230016/Santorum-delivers-warning-about-radical-Islam-during-Naples-appearance|title=Santorum delivers warning about radical Islam during Naples appearance|date=March 23, 2013|newspaper=Fort Meyers News Press|author=Lindsay Downey}}</ref>

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