Rick Santorum Quotes

I heard Governor Romney here called me an economic lightweight because I wasn't a Wall Street financier like he was. Do you really believe this country wants to elect a Wall Street financier as the president of the United States? Do you think that's the experience that we need? Someone who's going to take and look after as he did his friends on Wall Street and bail them out at the expense of Main Street America.

There are people who were gay and lived the gay lifestyle and aren't anymore. I don't know if that's the similar situation or that's the case for anyone that's black. It's a behavioral issue as opposed to a color of the skin issue, and that's the diff for serving in the military.

CO2 is a pollutant? Tell that to the plants.

I don't think God will continue to bless America if we continue to kill 1.2 million children every year.

Prayer and hard work are a pretty good one-two punch to get things done.

There are conservatives in Hollywood who make good movies. They just don't make conservative movies because that's not what gets funded.

I mean the fact is that some of this information that we have found out that led to Usama bin Laden actually came from these enhanced interrogation techniques.

Changing the legal standard creates a slippery slope ... plural marriage. The court opened up a pandora's box by doing that.

I have a problem with homosexual acts.

We need to have a president that's going to pledge, as I have - I'm going to make America the number-one manufacturer so working men and women can have good paying jobs again in America.

This is the beauty of Donald Trump, that he goes against the Republican orthodoxy, much of which has been rejected a lot of Republican voters, who, well, would be Republican voters, at least in my state, who I think would otherwise like to vote Republican.

Would the potential attraction to Mormonism by simply having a Mormon in the White House threaten traditional Christianity by leading more Americans to a church that some Christians believe misleadingly calls itself Christian, is an active missionary church, and a dangerous cult?

I would say any type of sexual activity has absolutely no place in the military.

Obviously the first thing we need to do is repeal "Obamacare." That's one entitlement that we can get rid of. And that's a couple trillion dollars in spending over the next 10 years.

If all you think we need to do to get this economy going and get this country on the right track is to cut government and reduce taxes, you don't understand America. America is a moral enterprise, not an economic enterprise.

I would say ... that moving jobs overseas is a reality of global competition, ... If you come from Pennsylvania, we've lost a lot of jobs from global competition. I think that's just a truth, if you will.

[Health reform] will destroy the country [because] in the next year or so [America will have to] dramatically cut the military because we can't pay for it.

Certainly from the ????standpoint of a Republican, it's a winner. Republicans will come out ahead in Pennsylvania in every election. The way Democrats win, they have two big cities with huge concentrations of voters - and then overwhelm the rest of the state. All of a sudden, a Republican can win - and would probably routinely win - all but three or four congressional districts in Pennsylvania. It would turn it from a state Democrats rely on, as part of the base, to a state that they're gonna lose under almost any scenario.

You have the right to anything. Does that undermine the fabric of our society? I would argue yes, it does.

There is a difference between legitimate issues of character - someone's behavior - and the issue of whether someone who has done something wrong in their life, now because of those mistakes, can't talk about what is the right thing to do.

It's not about contraception. It's about economic liberty, it's about freedom of speech, it's about freedom of religion, it's about government control of your lives and it's got to stop!

I don't think most people understand that when I wasn't running for president, I was working. Because I have to earn income. I have three kids in college. And three in school. And I have a little girl that has a lot of special needs. So I've got to work for a living. I was working already.

Defend the church. Defend the family. Defend the non-profit community. Defend them against a government that wants to weaken them.

What makes America great was a government that was founded to be limited to doing one thing. I really believe the whole purpose of America, the aspirational value - why everybody who wants to come to this country wants to come here - was because we respected the dignity of every living person.

We need a candidate who's going to be a fighter for freedom. Who is going to get up and make that the central theme in this race because it is the central theme in this race. I don't care what the unemployment rate's going to be. Doesn't matter to me. My campaign doesn't hinge on unemployment rates and growth rates.

I think Donald Trump is going to surprise a lot of people.

Donald Trump is a good businessman. He knows how to put the deal together. And I think he'd be a - he'll be a very constructive figure in the White House.

One of the criticisms I make is to what I refer to as more of a libertarianish right ... This whole idea of personal autonomy, well I don't think most conservatives hold that point of view. Some do. They have this idea that people should be left alone, be able to do whatever they want to do ... Well, that is not how traditional conservatives view the world ...

You can't ignore the reality that faith and family, those two things are integral parts of having limited government, lower taxes, and free societies.

The basic unit of society is the family. No one comes into this world as a self-sufficient individual. We start out as the helpless child of a mother and a father, who put aside their own desires and interests to care for us. The family, in fact, is the first society - the first government, the first classroom, the first church. And the strength of the family is the strength of "we.

And a noble life is one ordered by, and oriented to, a transcendent moral code, not just one's own concept of existence and meaning and truth ... if we want a society that reveres life, that defends the family, and that discourages delinquency and promotes decency, we cannot force a privatization of religion; we must allow the truth-claims of religious faith to be uttered aloud in the public square.

I don't believe in an America where the separation of church and state is absolute. The idea that the church can have no influence or no involvement in the operation of the state is absolutely antithetical to the objectives and vision of our country.

It's the most ambitious power grab I've ever witnessed.

The idea is that the state doesn't have rights to limit individuals' wants and passions. I disagree with that. I think we absolutely have rights because there are consequences to letting people live out whatever wants or passions they desire.

He glosses over and doesn't even tell the truth ... Here is a guy who is the ultimate flip-flopper running for president, and he's attacking me for not being principled? That doesn't wash.

This is a spiritual war. And the Father of Lies has his sights on what you would think the Father of Lies would have his sights on: a good, decent, powerful, influential country - the United States of America. If you were Satan, who would you attack in this day and age?

If Bruce Jenner says he's woman then I'm not gonna argue with him. I know what obviously and biologically he is.

George W. Bush is the first Catholic president of the United States.

Look at the political base of the Democratic Party: It is single mothers who run a household. Why? Because it's so tough economically that they look to the government for help and therefore they're going to vote.

Many of the Christian faith have said, well, that's okay, contraception is okay. It's not okay. It's a license to do things in a sexual realm that is counter to how things are supposed to be.

Marriage is what marriage is ... It's like going out and saying, 'That tree is a car.' Well, the tree's not a car. A tree's a tree. Marriage is marriage.

I have nothing, absolutely nothing against anyone who's homosexual. If that's their orientation, then I accept that. And I have no problem with someone who has other orientations.

The question is - and this is what Barack Obama didn't want to answer - is that human life a person under the Constitution? And Barack Obama says no. Well if that person - human life is not a person, then - I find it almost remarkable for a black man to say, 'We're going to decide who are people and who are not people.'

I think the Supreme Court has, as an equal branch of government, the ability to overrule Congress and the president. But I also feel it's the role of the Congress and the president to push back. I mean I think it's important that they are understood as equal branches of government.

I raise money the old fashioned way, I go out and tell people what I think. And I say to them, "If you hire me, I'm a CEO, and I'll listen to you. But at the end of the day, I'm going to make the decision, something I've done throughout my whole career with, frankly, great success."

Suffering, if you're a Christian, suffering is a part of life. And it's not a bad thing, it is an essential thing in life There are all different ways to suffer. One way to suffer is through lack of food and shelter and there's another way to suffer which is lack of dignity and hope and there's all sorts of ways that people suffer and it's not just tangible, it's also intangible and we have to consider both.

The radical feminists succeeded in undermining the traditional family and convincing women that professional accomplishments are the key to happiness.

We shouldn't be putting tariffs on anything. That hurts working men and women in US. What we should be doing is making our manufacturing more competitive.

Saddam Hussein was not an Islamist. He's not a radical jihadist. He's not a radical Muslim. I mean, he was a - he was a Baathist. He was a secular - even though he professed to be a good and devout Muslim.

I'm always told that what I say is controversial. Why is it controversial? Because I speak from a tradition that has now fallen out of favor with the dominant media in this country. And so when I say things like marriage should be between one man and one woman, I'm called a bigot.

Higher income people don't have to pay taxes if they don't want to.

When did it become the law of the land that the Supreme Court has the final say on anything? They cannot have the final say on anything. The American people have the final say on anything.

We know the candidate Barack Obama, what he was like - the anti-war government nig- uh, the - America was a source for division around the world, that what we were doing was wrong.

The reason Social Security is in big trouble is we don't have enough workers to support the retirees. Well, a third of all the young people in America are not in America today because of abortion, because one in three pregnancies end in abortion.

My position on how to address the Confederate flag is clear. In Florida, we acted, moving the flag from the state grounds to a museum, where it belonged.

I am not a libertarian, and I fight very strongly against libertarian influence within the Republican Party and the conservative movement.

Radical feminists have been making the pitch that justice demands that men and women be given an equal opportunity to make it to the top in the workplace.

I'm someone who believes that making things creates wealth.

I believe that any doctor that performs an abortion, I would advocate that any doctor that performs an abortion, should be criminally charged for doing so.

I support the Ryan budget plan. I think it's the right direction on the major points. I can't say I've read all of it, but on the major thrust of what he's doing, I support what he wants to do with Medicare, Medicaid. The only thing I would do, frankly, as I've said publicly many times, I think we should implement a lot of these things sooner than what he's suggesting.

I think I'm the best candidate not just to beat President Obama, but to do what is necessary to get this country going, a conviction conservative who can rally the American public around a common set of values.

You win by giving people the opportunity to see a different vision for our country, not someone whos just going to be a little different than the person in there. If youre going to be a little different, we might as well stay with what we have instead of taking a risk with what may be the Etch A Sketch candidate of the future.

Nelson Mandela stood up against a great injustice and was willing to pay a huge price for that. That's the reason he's mourned today, because of that struggle that he performed I mean, what he was advocating for was not necessarily the right answer, but he was fighting against some great injustice, and I would make the argument that we have a great injustice going on right now in this country with an ever-increasing size of government that is taking over and controlling people's lives, and Obamacare is front and center in that.

Isn't that the ultimate homeland security, standing up and defending marriage?

I don't advocate civil disobedience. I do advocate the role of an informed citizen to try to overturn when a court makes a mistake and gets an issue wrong.

The notion that college education is a cost-effective way to help poor, low-skill, unmarried mothers with high school diplomas or GEDs move up the economic ladder is just wrong.

Yeah, remember, under the Bush administration, welfare - I mean, excuse me, poverty among African Americans and among single unmarried women, poverty was at the lowest rate ever in the history of this country. So Obama's policies are not working, Bush polices worked! For long a time as a matter of fact.

I cleaned toilets and shined shoes.

Pick any other Republican in the country. He is the worst Republican in the country to put up against Barack Obama.

Is anyone saying same-sex couples can't love each other? I love my children. I love my friends, my brother. Heck, I even love my mother-in-law. Should we call these relationships marriage, too?

Its amazing that so many kids turn out to be fairly normal, considering the weird socialization they get in public schools.

The idea that the Crusades and the fight of Christendom against Islam is somehow an aggression on our part is absolutely anti-historical. And that is what the perception is by the American Left who hates Christendom ... What I'm talking about is onward American soldiers. What we're talking about are core American values.

My feeling is that the judge has a responsibility to the Constitution first, precedent second. Precedent is one factor. It is not the only factor. If it was the only factor, then, you know, we wouldn't have had Roe vs. Wade. We wouldn't have had Griswold. We wouldn't have had Lawrence. We wouldn't have had all these cases which the Left love.

The decision he made with Usama bin Laden was a tactical decision. It wasn't a strategic decision. The strategic decision was made by President Bush to go after him. What President Obama has done on his watch, the issues that have come up while he's been president, he's gotten it wrong strategically every single time.

Thirty-two years after the legalization of abortion by the Supreme Court decision Roe v. Wade, the majority of Americans consider themselves pro-life.

Every issue that we deal with in this country has a moral component to it. And so, to divorce a moral component to the debt burden we're leaving the next generation, the tax structure to how we spend our money in Washington, and how we - you know, how we value human life - I mean, all of those things, to me interrelate. They're not - they're not separate issues.

I want to make sure that the American worker has an opportunity to see their wages rise and their incomes increase.

You can't have a limited government if the family breaks down.

My work with Patriot Voices actually dovetails very well into the work I'm going to be doing with EchoLight. I'll be traveling around the country, doing a lot of radio interviews, a lot of media interviews, so I don't see that as all inconsistent.

Marriage is an institution that existed before governments existed. It's something that reflects nature and reflects God and God's will for us. And both from the standpoint of faith and reason it makes all the sense in the world. And it's beneficial for society.

We are seeing it. We are seeing the fabric of this country fall apart, and it's falling apart because of single moms.

In some mysterious way, in all his brokenness, he reveals to us our own brokenness, our difficulties in loving, our barriers and hardness of heart. If he is so broken and so hurt and yet is still such a source of life, then I, too, am allowed to look at my own brokenness and to trust that I, too, can give life to others. I do not have to pretend that I am better than others and that I have to win in all the competitions. It's okay to be myself, just as I am, in my uniqueness. That, of course, is a very healing and liberating experience. I am allowed to be myself, with all my psychological and physical wounds, with all my limitations but with all my gifts too. And I can trust that I am loved just as I am, and that I, too, can love and grow.

I understand why Barack Obama wants to send every kid to college, because of their indoctrination mills, absolutely ... The indoctrination that is going on at the university level is a harm to our country.

I believe in capitalism for everybody, not necessarily high finance but capitalism that works for the working men and women of this country who are out there paddling alone in America right now.

My feeling is, well, if it's my money, I have a right to judge.

I'll never forget the first time I saw someone who had died. It was my grandfather. And I knelt next to his coffin. And all I could do was eye level was look at his hands. They were enormous hands. And all I could think was, 'Those hands dug freedom for me.'

Capitalism actually encourages morality because capitalism can't function well if people can't trust each other and people aren't honest, if a deal isn't a deal.

It's very interesting, if you look at a study that was done by the Brookings Institute back in 2009, they determined that if Americans do three things, they can avoid poverty. Three things. Work, graduate from high school, and get married before you have children.

I thank God that America still has one party that reaches out their hands in love to lift up all of God's children
born and unborn, and says that each of us has dignity and all of us have the right to live the American Dream.

Why? Because free prenatal testing ends up in more abortions and, therefore, less care that has to be done, because we cull the ranks of the disabled in our society.

We were put on this Earth as creatures of God to have dominion over the Earth, to use it wisely and steward it wisely, but for our benefit not for the Earth's benefit,

One of the things I will talk about, that no president has talked about before, is I think the dangers of contraception in this country.

Ron Paul may be the wackiest candidate in the GOP field. But for pure, blind stupidity, nobody beats Santorum. In my 20 years in the Senate, I never met a dumber member, which he reminded me of today.

The problem is neutrality ends in poverty, neutrality ends in choices that hurt people's lives. This administration is deliberately telling organizations that are there to help young girls make good choices, not to tell them what the good choice is. That is absolutely unconscionable.

NASCAR and the Daytona 500 are about as American as you can get.

Whether it's polygamy, whether it's adultery, whether it's sodomy, all of those things, are antithetical to a healthy, stable, traditional family.

The family is the first economy. If the family breaks down, well, government gets bigger because of the consequences of family breakdown. We see in the neighborhoods where there are no marriages and there are no two-parent families.

I love it when the left and when the president say, 'Don't try to impose your values on us, you folks who hold your Bibles in your hand and cling to your guns.' They have values too. Our values are based on religion, based on life. Their values are based on a religion of self.

I watch the Food Network with my kids. We - yeah, I - I - I generally don't admit that, but I love cooking.

We've seen with this president, experience matters. When that phone call comes at three o'clock in the morning, I will be up and ready for the call because I will know what's going on in the world around us.