The Passion of Rick Santorum

The only thing missing from the New York Times Magazine cover piece on Sen. Rick Santorum on Sunday was the halo and the crucifix so, we've supplied those:



They paint him as some sort of pugilist for Christ; full of conviction and a True Believer. But, the real fun comes in as they buy the line -- hook, line, and sinker -- that Lil Ricky's other real passion is as an "antipoverty crusader." The word "poverty" is mentioned five times in the article. The word "antipoverty" is mentioned three times and the word "poor" is mentioned four times.

Most of the evidence that they give for Lil Ricky as Crusader for the Downtrodden is his efforts to get more government bucks into the hands of faith-based charities. Seeing as how Santorum needs to rely heavily on the Catholic, Evangelical and anti-choice vote as his base, could there not be an ulterior motive for his concern in this area? The NY Times doesn't see fit to ask that question. Perhaps this is a matter of "faith" with them.

At least they had the decency to mention the following:

"Earlier this year, Santorum voted against a Democratic amendment to a bankruptcy bill to raise the federal minimum wage to $7.25, which would seemingly be one of the more efficient ways to get money to poor people. He offered his own amendment to hike it to $6.25 as part of a package that included tax cuts for small businesses and exemptions on overtime pay for some workers currently eligible for it."

The NY Times piece does not mention Santorum's reaction -- or should that be lack of action -- in the matter of the flood-ravaged business districts in Carnegie and Oakdale, PA in September of last year.

From the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:

"But Santorum said he could not deliver the one thing owners say they need most: direct federal grants to help with the rebuilding process."

[snip]

"Understand that this is going to have to be a mostly local effort with the federal government helping where it can," Santorum said. "The federal government doesn't have money for this type of relief."

Funny how the person who holds his party's third-ranking leadership position could not exert any pull in getting aid to his own constituents. Perhaps if the floods had been more "Biblical" in proportion and if there were some way to funnel some cash back to the Church, he may have tried harder.