Posted on 01/16/2012 9:23:33 AM PST by detective
COLUMBIA, S.C. — Rick Santorum pushed back Monday morning against a series of ads being run against him on his record on earmarks, labor issues and a vote he took in 2002 that would have forced states to let felons' voting rights be restored when they completed their sentences.
Mr. Santorum, a former senator from Pennsylvania, is demanding the felon charge be stricken from an ad being run by a political group backing former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, one of his opponents in the Republican presidential primary.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtontimes.com ...
This is a terrible idea. If Santorum supports convicted felons, then I don't think I can support him.
I had thought Santorum was the best of the candidates. I never thought he was perfect but I thought he was the best choice. Now I need to rethink my position. I don't want to make the perfect the enemy of the good and I realize there is no candidate that I will always agree with. But this troubles me.
Yep, if this is true and a lot of the convicted felons are illegals.
Bit of a non issue since felons can already vote in every state. Some conditions apply in most, such as they must have served their sentences, probation, paroles etc. In Maine and Vermont, incarcerated felons are allowed to vote.
http://felonvoting.procon.org/view.resource.php?resourceID=286
Why just their voting rights? If he doesn’t “support” the restoration of their Second Amendment rights once they “complete their sentences”, he’s a hypocrite just as the commie ‘RATS are on this same subject.
I want to know what the Republican candidates always seem to be for things that will help only the other side?
This is likely a deal breaker.
Dang.
.
If a felon has served all his time, is his debt to society not paid?
Yep, as long as people try to take any of our God given rights, they will eventually be taken from us all. While they’re at it, they can reduce the 10,000+ pages of the criminal code that makes everyone an unprosecuted felon.
I’m a convicted felon.
The vicious nature of my not showing up for court many years ago is plenty of reason for stripping me of my vote forever.
BTW I vote legally and I vote conservative because voting rights are a state issue.
Just be thankful we allow stupid people to vote.
Good question. My guess is that they believe they can bring RAT voters to the GOP by supporting certain measures. This is delusional, but unfortunately a common belief. Most of the people they want to attract to the GOP cause don’t even pay attention to the news, they just automatically vote for the party that gives out the most goodies.
There is absolutely no (no) excuse for supporting felons' voting rights.
You have a brief (make that extremely brief) moment to admit that this was an horrific error of judgment; and that you would not ever, ever, ever support such an Alinsky-esqe bill again.
The (election wrecking) "ball" is in your court.
.
I’m getting sick of all this infighting by the Republican Establishment against Santorum—or anyone else of whom they disapprove.
This is the second article today where the WashTimes pushes propaganda against Santorum in order to sink him in the primaries.
First they did that vague article that the Evangelicals didn’t really endorse him, because someone saw somebody cheat at the vote. Really? Absolutely no established sources or facts are involved.
Now they try to tar Santorum as favoring votes for felons. He didn’t “admit” it, he accused the Superpac of lying because they said he wanted to give felons the vote. No, he wanted to allow them to vote after they had served their time, passed their paroles, and were finished with paying their debt to society. It’s the DEMOCRATS who want to give felons still in prison the vote, but the ad pretended that Santorum sided with them.
No, I agree with him. You serve your time, you pay the price, you do your parole, and you get your citizenship back. Or doesn’t anyone believe in the idea of forgiveness for those who have paid the price?
In many states, a felon who has paid his debt can petition the governor to have the right to vote restored.
This makes sense to me.
NO! The Pharisee’s said so!/s
The thing is that these morons don’t realize that EVERY person commits on average no less than 3 felonies a day. We have the largest prison population in the entire world (by many times), and more than 1% of our population is in a prison at any given moment. Nearly 1/2 of all kids are arrested/detained before they reach adulthood. No one is safe, yet people are stupid enough to think that the object is not to remove ALL rights from EVERYONE.
Stop trying to take GOD given rights from people, even if they commit a crime. This infatuation with locking people up is sick and demented. I dare say 99% of prisoners have no business being in prison, and certainly not at the expense of tens of thousands of dollars a year. There are many forms of discipline that modify society and individuals behaviors. Prison isn’t one of them. Even for theft. It’s like saying, “That man stole 5,000 from you, now you get to pay $20,000 over the next several years to house feed, and clothe him, and he’ll have no means to pay you back.” I’d rather have him caned and put back to work than pay 5x, 10x, 20x the amount to keep myself “Safe.”
“The vote Mr. Santorum cast, Senate vote No. 31 in 2002, would have overridden state laws when it comes to federal elections. It would have required them to let felons register to vote once they have completed their prison sentences and any probation or parole.
If it were to pass today, it would override laws in 11 states that require felons to apply to have their rights restored, and that puts it at odds with the principles most of the GOP’s candidates are espousing on the campaign trail that states should be left to control their own destinies as much as possible.”
My understanding is that convicted felons need to apply to have there rights restored in many states(in my opinion it should be every state). The bill Santorum voted for would automatically restore voting rights to all convicted felons no matter what.
Where in the Constitution are a Citizen's Rights revoked AFTER serving their prison sentence, probation and parole??
“Or doesn’t anyone believe in the idea of forgiveness for those who have paid the price?”
That would take logical thinking.
And lately, it seems sorely lacking here.
You’ve paid your ‘debt’ and you should have your rights restored.
No one is talking about supporting ‘current’ felons or even ‘illegal immigrants’ who have served their sentences.
Just the fact that some one is here ‘illegal’ means they can’t ‘serve their sentence’ because they haven’t been convicted of their crime of entering the country ‘illegally’.
The inanity around here lately just amazes me.
Bad idea to begin with but the worst part is he wanted to force states to do it since they are responsible for elections and election laws, till the 1960s civil rights bills jumped in and started micro-managing certain states.
Very discouraging.
Bingo!
Just more mudslinging from the Rombot camp to keep the focus off ‘Willard the Liberal Gov’ through Sat.
I can’t help but wonder how many people genuinely believe that convicts sit in prison dreaming of the day they can get out and vote democrat.
As far as I know, only Maine allows inmates to vote while in prison and I think that’s a really dumb idea. After all, they have nothing better to do and voting provides a change of pace.
“I dare say 99% of prisoners have no business being in prison”
You have a different view of the world than I do. If we let 99% of the people now in prison commit any crime they wanted and let them know they had no fear of punishment what do you think our country would be like?
Ricky needs to explain voting for felons to be able to vote as well as THIS RINO voting record:
RICK SANTORUM
VOTED AGAINST INCREASING THE NUMBER OF IMMIGRATION INVESTIGATORS
http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=109&session=2&vote=00201
VOTED TO ALLOW ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS TO RECEIVE THE EARNED INCOME CREDIT BEFORE BECOMING CITIZENS
http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=109&session=2&vote=00154
VOTED TO GIVE SOCIAL SECURITY BENEFITS TO ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS
SANTORUM: TRIM SOCIAL SECURITY NOW- EVEN IF PAINFUL.http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5j7O34Bpp42k-IlMMNiOLBkYF2zNw?docId=b1cff9ecefe24ca6ae1764a09761e361
VOTED TO GIVE WELFARE BENEFITS TO NATURALIZED CITIZENS without regard to to the earnings of their sponsors
http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=104&session=1&vote=00427
VOTED AGAINST HIRING AN ADDITIONAL 1,000 BORDER PATROL AGENTS, paid for by reductions in state grants.
http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=109&session=1&vote=00179
VOTED AGAINST FOOD STAMP REFORM
http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=109&session=1&vote=00353
VOTED AGAINST MEDICAID REFORM
http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=109&session=1&vote=00352
VOTED TO INCREASE THE SOCIAL SERVICES BLOCK GRANT FROM $1 BILLION to $2 BILLION
http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=106&session=1&vote=00302
VOTED TO RAID SOCIAL SECURITY instead of using surpluses to pay down the debt.
http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=106&session=2&vote=00056
VOTED TO IMPOSE A UNIFORM FEDERAL MANDATE ON STATES TO FORCE THEM TO ALLOW CONVICTED RAPISTS, ARSONISTS, DRUG KINGPINS AND ALL OTHER EX-CONVICTS TO VOTE IN FEDERAL ELECTIONS.
http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=107&session=2&vote=00031
VOTED AGAINST INCREASING THE NUMBER OF IMMIGRATION INVESTIGATORS?
VOTED TO GIVE WELFARE BENEFITS TO NATURALIZED CITIZENS?
VOTED AGAINST HIRING AN ADDITIONAL 1,000 BORDER PATROL AGENTS?
VOTED AGAINST FOOD STAMP REFORM?
VOTED AGAINST MEDICAID REFORM?
People NEED to know this about Santorum’s voting record.
He has not been vetted.
.
You sound like a paranoid Perry (5%) supporter.
What gets to me is that Romney supporters (AKA Romney) have placed attacks on Gingrich and Santorum, and yet if Gingrich attacks Romney it’s a mortal sin.
Romney gets a pass on negative attacks because supposedly it isn’t him, it’s his supporters. While anyone else is blackballed for negative attacks on Romney.
Either way Republicans are killing each other while the slimey SOB in the White House now laughs his ass off.
Sometimes I try to have hope for this party and then I am always disappointed.
Compassionate conservatism for sure!
A while back I found some old prison records from Jackson Michigan in the mid 1800s. Among the items returned to inmates upon release were their weapons.
Too many felonies when most felonies should be violent crimes and those people should be in prison or dead.
Haley Barbour on his way out pardoned 200 new votes for Obama.
The judge who temporarily overturned the Barbour pardons and is trying to recapture 5 released killers should station marshalls to stake out the polls and arrest them before they pull the Obama lever.
Willard must be desperate.
Santorum position is after they do prison and parole they get voting rights
reinstated.
What’s the matter with that?
Now they are taking away our citizenship rights any way they can even after our debt to Justice is done.
Pretty soon you will be fined if you DON’T VOTE. They will just hunt
us down.
As Republicans gathered for their national convention in Philadelphia a decade ago, Rick Santorum, who was then an up-and-coming senator from Pennsylvania, launched a charity that he said would improve the lives of low-income residents in his home state.
“Wouldn’t it be a great thing to leave something positive behind other than a bunch of parties and a bunch of garbage?” Santorum told a local reporter.
But homeless families and troubled children were not the biggest beneficiaries of Operation Good Neighbor. Instead, the foundation spent most of its money to run itself, including hundreds of thousands of dollars in fees for fundraising, administration and office rental paid to Santorum’s political allies.
Santorum, whose last-minute surge in the Iowa caucuses has brought new attention to his presidential bid, portrays himself as a common man concerned about the gap between the nation’s rich and poor. But in the case of his charity, his efforts ended up mostly helping his cadre of political friends.
Before it folded in 2007, the foundation raised $2.58 million, with 39 percent of that donated directly to groups helping the needy. By industry standards, such philanthropic groups should be donating nearly twice that, from 75 to 85 percent of their funds.
“That’s exceptionally poor,” Ken Berger, president of Charity Navigator, a national organization that rates charitable groups, said of the Santorum group’s giving. “We would tell donors to run with fear from this organization.”
That’s exceptionally poor...
even by Congressional standards.
Santorum charity for the poor spent most of its money on management, political friends
Take away the social issues from the mix, and RS is just a C or C minus conservative at best.
Grade A on social issues, but not so hot other than that.
See post #16.
“In declining states the leadership intuitively choses the most harmful course of action.” A Great Historian 1888
I am supporting Santorum. The Washington Times is out to sink Santorum to aid Romney.
The Washington Times is out to sink Santorum. They are doing their best to get Romney nominated and destroy the conservative movement.
This fits the pattern of Romney campaign
which the other CANDIDATES HATED in 2008 and 2012 for hypocrisy
he rips the other candidates on the RIGHT
that they are not RIGHT enough
smells like Romney
Same here. He isn’t a big government socialist like Newt Romney.
That’s a ridiculous way to destroy Santorum. Who are you comparing him to? Gingrich? Gingrich who supported Global Warming with Nancy Pelosi, who loves FDR, and attacked capitalism. We can disagree on Santorum but Mittens needs to be stopped. His nomination will be devastating and would have a ripple effect on congressional races nationwide.
Only if they are conservative...
Right, Rombot.
Huh? Do you have a source for that?
When Santorum endorsed Arlen Specter...he meant it!
Prison is where debt is paid. You can feel however you want about a person individually, but once they are out, debt paid (not on parole or probation) then rights should be reinstated. If they can’t vote then they’re not even citizens, we might as well kick them out of the country.
That is so intellectually lazy and frankly, ridiculous. I was a Cain supporter probably before you every knew who he was and have been a Newt supporter since October, maybe early November. The idea that you jumped to the conclusion that I was in any way a Romney supporter demonstrates an incredible lack of something. Intellect? Reason? Comprehension? Or maybe it demonstrates a over abundance of something. Paranoia? Hatred? Anger? Something. You weren't even close.
I don’t get what you are saying at all.
It’s a story, I assume the numbers are verifiable, which is about Rick Santorum’s actions, not his words... is how he handled his charitable organization off limits? He’s the best christian running, we are told, by him and others.
I support Newt.
See post #16.
He needs to get out of the race and let Grinrich beat Romney.
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