Big Government Rick Santorum

A new American Spectator piece touts Rick Santorum for president.  This obviously sends me into a tizzy (see previous post on Santorum).

For starters:

When Santorum lost in 2006, the Republican "brand" had been severely defaced by the Bush administration's mangling of the Iraqi war effort (pre-surge) combined with the ham-handed response to Hurricane Katrina and with the horrendous Bush-Hastert big-government axis on both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue. 

Perhaps the "brand" was also hampered by Rick Santorum's non-stop, historically inaccurate rants about "Islamo-Fascism" and why we needed to fight many more wars.  Or Rick Santorum's insistence the federal government get involved in every nanny-state scenario, including trying to get Congress to overrule courts on the Terry Schiavo case (affecting a single person).  Perhaps Santorum's lack of concern about the Constitution hurt the brand.


More importantly, I fail to see why the the "Bush-Hastert big-government axis" isn't the "Bush-Santorum big-government axis".  Santorum championed every major Bush era expansion of government through 2006 - including Medicare Part D, No Child Left Behind, and the like.  Santorum was Bush's go-to guy in the Senate, and his involvement in the K-Street project was solely to promote the Bush agenda.  Pretending Santorum had nothing to do with Bush's big government expansion is like suggesting Nancy Pelosi can't be blamed for Obamacare.

The article goes on to state that Santorum's only mistake was endorsing Arlen Specter - the key vote in passing the stimulus bill and the health care takeover - but that's no big deal.
 
Is this the same Rick Santorum who abused the earmark system as much as anyone, and continues to this day to defend earmarks (at least when Republicans give earmarks)?


Is this the same Rick Santorum who told a group of Pennsylvania conservatives that he's learned to love deficit spending?

Is this the same Rick Santorum who thinks the big problem with the Republican party is Libertarianism?  The same Rick Santorum who attacks individual liberty and denounces the pursuit of happiness?


Is this the same Rick Santorum who fought ceaselessly for the federal government use taxpayer dollars to start giving dating advice!

Rick Santorum  is as much to blame for the growing federal government spending and power as anyone in America.