Rick Santorum

Rick Santorum was a U.S. senator from Pennsylvania from 1995 to 2007. During his tenure, he served on several important committees, including eight years on the Armed Services Committee and six on the Finance Committee. He is the author of "It Takes a Family: Conservatism and the Common Good." He is writing a second book on the war against a radical, Islamic fascist enemy and its growing global alliances. He is VP of Business Development at Reston, VA-based MPower Media and is a commentator on the Fox News Channel.

His column, "The Elephant in the Room," appears every other Thursday on The Inquirer's Commentary Page.

The Elephant in the Room: Obama's plan? Or yours?

We should choose a health-care system in which decisions are made closer to home.

By Rick Santorum

Posted 07/02/2009

The rubber hit the road in Congress last Friday, but it wasn't a transportation bill or a car-company bailout. It was the House vote on "climate change," which would still be known as "global warming" if average temperatures had not inconveniently failed to go up over the past 11 years.

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The Elephant in the Room: Brace yourself for El Specter - 06/04/2009: His political conversion has roiled the campaign waters in Pennsylvania.

By Rick Santorum

Arlen Specter's grand return to the Democratic Party has rocked both political parties in Pennsylvania. Call it the "El Specter" effect. As El Nino raises global temperatures, El Specter has warmed up Pennsylvania's political climate.
The Elephant in the Room: The new pro-life majority - 05/21/2009: The pro-choice cause has sunk to a low point in public-opinion polls. Clinton, Obama, and Notre Dame inadvertently helped make it so.

By Rick Santorum

In the winter of 1996, I was trying to craft a strategy to override then-President Bill Clinton's veto of the Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act.
The Elephant in the Room: A welcome to the party - 05/07/2009: Which bunch on Capitol Hill is rigid and narrow-minded? Specter just joined it.

By Rick Santorum

Sen. Arlen Specter said after his switch to the Democratic Party last week that he would not be a "party-line voter" or "an automatic 60th vote" to head off a Republican filibuster. He put an exclamation point on those pronouncements by voting against President Obama's $3.5 trillion budget.
The Elephant in the Room: Following Bush's playbook - 04/23/2009: Despite what Obama told liberals, he is embracing some once-hated policies.

By Rick Santorum

About two years ago, candidate Barack Obama made a series of promises to the radical antiwar crowd so he could outflank Hillary Clinton in the Democratic primary. It worked.
The Elephant in the Room: Why conservatives should support McCain - 04/21/2008: By Rick Santorum

Anyone who knows me knows that I don't shy away from offering my two-cents on the issues of the day, particularly in presidential races. And anyone who has heard me talk about the presidential race over the last few months knows that I've had, shall we say, some serious reservations about John McCain's candidacy.
The Elephant in the Room: Mandate for Catholic colleges - 04/10/2008: By Rick Santorum

Is Pope Benedict XVI coming to America to drop the hammer on the president for the Iraq war? You might think so if your gospel comes courtesy of the mainstream media.
The Elephant in the Room: One-Day Democrats: A bad idea - 03/27/2008: By Rick Santorum

The results are in. Democratic registration numbers have surged to a record four million, and an equally impressive record of an 800,000-vote advantage over Republicans in the state. Have things gotten so bad for the GOP in Pennsylvania that a stampede has begun?
The Elephant in the Room: McCain must change views on social issues - 03/13/2008: By Rick Santorum

I attended the Council for National Policy meeting last week in New Orleans and listened to John McCain address the who's who of Hillary Rodham Clinton's vast right-wing conspiracy. It was another chance for McCain to, in his words, "not just unite, but reignite the base."
The Elephant in the Room: Obama: A harsh ideologue hidden by a feel-good image - 02/28/2008: By Rick Santorum

American voters will choose between two candidates this election year. One inspires hope for a brighter, better tomorrow. His rhetoric makes us feel we are, indeed, one nation indivisible - indivisible by ideology or religion, indivisible by race or creed. It is rhetoric of hope and change and possibility. It's inspiring. This candidate can make you just plain feel good to be American.
The Elephant in the Room: The conservative jury is still out on backing McCain - 02/14/2008: By Rick Santorum

Why are so many conservative Republicans upset about the inevitable nomination of Sen. John McCain, and what are we going to do about it?