Rick Santorum Quotes & Sayings

The state has a right to do that [outlaw contraceptives], I have never questioned that the state has a right to do that. It is not a constitutional right, the state has the right to pass whatever statutes they have. That is the thing I have said about the activism of the Supreme Court, they are creating right, and they should be left up to the people to decide. — Rick Santorum

I cleaned toilets and shined shoes. — Rick Santorum

And yet we have brave men and women who are willing to step forward because they know what's at stake. They're willing to sacrifice their lives for this great country. What I'm asking all of you tonight is not to put on a uniform. Put on a bumper sticker. — Rick Santorum

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. — Rick Santorum

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? — Rick Santorum

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

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. — Rick Santorum

Who are benefits promised to, overwhelmingly? Well, they're promised to older people. And if you have a society like Europe that is upside down where there are a lot more older people than younger people, you have economic calamity. — Rick Santorum

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. — Rick Santorum

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. — Rick Santorum

If the most liberal man that's ever been in office can get elected when 20 percent of the population identifies as liberal then I think we can elect a conservative when 40 percent of the population identifies themselves as conservative. — Rick Santorum

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. — Rick Santorum

I grew up in a steel town of Western Pennsylvania, outside of Pittsburgh, and when I announced for president, I announced from the factory floor. When I talk about making America the number one manufacturer again in the world, it's not just talk. When I talk about having the opportunity for people to rise again, it's not just because it polls well. — Rick Santorum

Against the advice of my wife, I endorsed Arlen Specter. I should have listened to my wife. — Rick Santorum

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.' — Rick Santorum

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! — Rick Santorum

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

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. — Rick Santorum

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

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. — Rick Santorum

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. — Rick Santorum

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. — Rick Santorum

I smoked pot and that was something that I did when I was in college It was something that I'm not proud of, but I did. — Rick Santorum

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. — Rick Santorum

Well, higher-income people don't have to pay taxes if they don't want to because they can move their money somewhere else, they can move their investments. They can stop investing. They can stop working. They don't need to work. They're higher-income people. — Rick Santorum

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. — Rick Santorum

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. — Rick Santorum

I dont know of one group of people thats more disliked than politicians
it may be the folks who gave us the Wall Street bailout. And thats where Mitt Romney comes from. — Rick Santorum

I would be saying to the Iranians, you either open those facilities, begin to dismantle them and make them available to inspectors or we will degrade those facilities though air strikes. And make it very public that we are doing that. Iran would not get a nuclear weapon under my watch. — Rick Santorum

I think that could be a very compromising situation where people naturally may do things that may not be in the interest of the mission because of other types of emotions that are involved. — Rick Santorum

My view is the less the government can do and the more freedom and opportunity you give people, that trusting people and free people and free enterprise - that America has built the greatest country in the history of the world. — Rick Santorum

In far too many families with young children, both parents are working, when, if they really took an honest look at the budget, they might find they don't both need to ... What happened in America so that mothers and fathers who leave their children in the care of someone else - or worse yet, home alone after school between three and six in the afternoon - find themselves more affirmed by society? Here, we can thank the influence of radical feminism. — Rick Santorum

I'm one of the few people up here who actually believes that we need a level playing field when it comes to manufacturing. That means a good tax code, a good regulatory environment, low energy prices, better opportunities for workers to get training. — Rick Santorum

[Confederate flag] it's a symbol of racial hatred. — Rick Santorum

I believe the earth gets warmer and I also believe the earth gets cooler. And I think history points out that it does that and that the idea that man, through the production of CO2 - which is a trace gas in the atmosphere, and the man-made part of that trace gas is itself a trace gas - is somehow responsible for climate change is, I think, just patently absurd when you consider all the other factors. — Rick Santorum

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. — Rick Santorum

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

Newt Gingrich would be a much better president than Barack Obama. — Rick Santorum

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? — Rick Santorum

I have lots of favorites movies. I say this only because it's a favorite movie because it's a sport I love. I'm a huge baseball fan. There are movies I like as much as this, but I sort of single this movie out because I'm a baseball nut, and that's 'Field of Dreams.' — Rick Santorum

What Donald Trump is focused on is a policy of trade that looks after the interests of the American worker, not just the overall GDP numbers. And that is what is resonating. — Rick Santorum

And that is what the perception is by the American left, who hates Christendom. — Rick Santorum

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. — Rick Santorum

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

Satan is attacking the great institutions of America, using those great vices of pride, vanity, and sensuality as the root to attack all of the strong plants that has so deeply rooted in the American tradition. — Rick Santorum

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. — Rick Santorum

I'm a capitalist, not a corporatist. I'm not someone who believes we should be bailing out corporations whether their auto industries, or banks. — Rick Santorum

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. — Rick Santorum

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. — Rick Santorum

In 2006 it was a horrible election year, and, you know, I lost. But I lost because I continued to be a constant conservative, and the last six years I was someone who was a national figure in the sense that I was the third ranking Republican in leadership and I had just run President Bush's campaign in Pennsylvania. — Rick Santorum

One of the things that I realize is that if you look at big business, I mean, they - and what they fund and what they do, they don't really - they don't fund the small non-profit community-based organizations that really are out there on the front lines helping people. They fund the big philanthropies. They're safe. — Rick Santorum

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. — Rick Santorum

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. — Rick Santorum

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. — Rick Santorum

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

The Obama administration now has regulations that tells them that they can no longer promote marriage to these young girls. They can no longer promote marriage as a way of avoiding poverty and bad choices that they make in their life. They can no longer even teach abstinence education. They have to be neutral with respect to how people behave. — Rick Santorum

If you look at the big entertainment industry and their pursuit of the bottom line profits in exchange for producing content and distributing that content and marketing that content to inappropriate audiences, that's a problem for me. — Rick Santorum

I fight very strongly against libertarian influence within the Republican Party and the conservative movement. I don't think the libertarians have it right when it comes to what the Constitution's all about. I don't think they have it right as to what our history is. — Rick Santorum

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. — Rick Santorum

If you're a print shop and you are a gay man, should you be forced to print 'God Hates Fags' for the Westboro Baptist Church because they hold those signs up? Should the government - and this is really the case here - should the government force you to do that? — Rick Santorum

Now is the time to act or get stuck with a bland, boring career politician who will lose to Barack Obama. — Rick Santorum

Satan has his sights on the United States of America! — Rick Santorum

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. — Rick Santorum

CO2 is a pollutant? Tell that to the plants. — Rick Santorum

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. — Rick Santorum

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

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

Every society in the history of man has upheld the institution of marriage as a bond between a man and a woman. Why? Because society is based on one thing: that society is based on the future of the society. And that's what? Children. Monogamous relationships. — Rick Santorum

I support the death penalty and will continue to do that. — Rick Santorum

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

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. — Rick Santorum

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. — Rick Santorum

[Pope Francis] is a humble man. He lives the faith out in his own personal life ... He's here to be a shepherd; he isn't here to be a scold. I think that's a good thing for the church and for the world, frankly. — Rick Santorum

As the hobbits are going up Mount Doom, the eye of Mordor is being drawn somewhere else. It's being drawn to Iraq. You know what? I want to keep it on Iraq. I don't want the eye to come back to the United States. — Rick Santorum

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

We went into a recession in 2008 because of gasoline prices. The bubble burst in housing because people couldn't pay their mortgages because of $4 a gallon gasoline. — Rick Santorum

The more money you take away from families is the less power that family has. And that's a basic power. — Rick Santorum

We will never have the elite smart people on our side. — Rick Santorum

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. — Rick Santorum

I've had the opportunity to spend some time with Donald Trump. He is - he - as you can imagine, I mean, he's a very engaging man. He's - he puts on an image as a lot of candidates and I think all of us do when we're in front of a microphone that's really tough and combative. — Rick Santorum

The dangers of carbon dioxide? Tell that to a plant, how dangerous carbon dioxide is, — Rick Santorum

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. — Rick Santorum

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. — Rick Santorum

There are certain skills that business people have that are - that are, in fact, helpful in - when it comes to being in political leadership. — Rick Santorum

I think the Democrats are actually worried he (Obama) may go to Indonesia and bow to more Muslims. — Rick Santorum

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

One of Governor Romney's aides today on television said that Governor Romney, after he wins the primaries, will be like an [Etch A Sketch] - you take whatever he said and you can shake it up and it will be gone, and he's going to draw a whole new picture for the general election. — Rick Santorum

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. — Rick Santorum

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. — Rick Santorum

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. — Rick Santorum

I don't want to make black people's lives better by giving them somebody else's money; I want to give them the opportunity to go out and earn the money. — Rick Santorum

Watching President Obama apologize last week for America's arrogance - before a French audience that owes its freedom to the sacrifices of Americans - helped convince me that he has a deep-seated antipathy toward American values and traditions. — Rick Santorum

In 1923 there were no government benefits for immigrants except one: Freedom! — Rick Santorum

If you're a responsible business, you don't let things like that happen in your business that have an impact on the country. — Rick Santorum

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. — Rick Santorum

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. — Rick Santorum

Priests, like all of us, are affected by culture, ... When the culture is sick, every element in it becomes infected. While it is no excuse for this scandal, it is no surprise that Boston, a seat of academic, political and cultural liberalism in America, lies at the center of the storm. — Rick Santorum

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. — Rick Santorum

In every society, the definition of marriage has not ever to my knowledge included homosexuality. That's not to pick on homosexuality. It's not, you know, man on child, man on dog, or whatever the case may be. It is one thing. And when you destroy that you have a dramatic impact on the quality ... — Rick Santorum

There is a limitation on debate, which is unlike other bills, for 20 hours, but there is no limitation on amendments. In other words, Republicans if they wanted to, and I suspect they do, could offer literally thousands of amendments and keep Senate in session for weeks and months. — Rick Santorum