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Rick Santorum on Jobs
Republican Jr Senator (PA); 2012 presidential frontrunner
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Take jobs back from China so US is #1 in manufacturing
We have to create jobs that give people wages that can help them provide for themselves. I pledge to make America the number one manufacturing nation. We can do it. China is starting to reorient itself away from a manufacturing economy.
This is an opportunity for us to get those jobs back.
Source: 2016 Fox News Republican Undercard debate in Iowa
, Jan 28, 2016
Jobs are open in manufacturing but no skilled workers
I was told there are 250,000 welder jobs open in America, jobs paying anywhere from $50,000 to $70,000 a year. We have to start doing something about training and employing people who are sitting on the sidelines because they don't see a path.
And we have a president who thinks everybody has to go to college. People need to go to work and we need to provide opportunities for them to go to work out of high school.
Source: Fox Business/WSJ Second Tier debate
, Nov 10, 2015
I can get American workers on the side of Republican Party
I grew up in a steel town 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 in the world, it's not just talk. I represented the old steel
valley of Pittsburgh. I represented a 70% Democratic district, and won with 60% of the vote. Why? Because I aligned myself with working men and women who feel that neither party, and certainly not Washington D.C. cares about them.
Source: GOP "Your Money/Your Vote" 2015 CNBC 2nd-tier debate
, Oct 28, 2015
Focus on improving life for average American workers
I will be out there talking about how we have to control immigration. How we have to look after the American worker.
The focus of this debate should be on how we're going to win this election and help improve the quality of life for American workers.
Source: 2015 Republican two-tiered primary undercard debate on CNN
, Sep 16, 2015
Fewer than 1% of Americans earn minimum wage; let it go up
The GOP is a party that supports special interest tax provisions for a whole bunch of other businesses, but, when it comes to hardworking Americans who are at the bottom of the income scale, we can't provide some level of income support?
What I've proposed is not that would be harmful to the American public, but a $.50 cents an hour increase over three years, which is what I'm proposing. By the way, 90 percent of American workers don't own a business. Most are wage earners.
Source: 2015 Republican two-tiered primary undercard debate on CNN
, Sep 16, 2015
Look out for American workers, not for profits or votes
People are upset for a reason about the future of this country. Immigration is sort of an example of what's broken and what's wrong in Washington, D.C.You see, you have one side, the Democrats, and with immigration, all they care about is votes.
They don't care about American workers, they just care about bringing as many people in so they can get as many votes as they can. On the other side, you have so many Republicans, and what do they care about? Helping business make profits.
There's nobody out there looking out for the American worker.
I'm looking out for the American worker. I'm the only one on this stage who has a plan that's actually reduced--actually going to reduce immigration. Actually going to do something to help
the American worker. And you combine that with a plan to make manufacturing--this country number one in manufacturing, you've got someone who's going to help revitalize and give hope to America, the place--the place is that is the most hopeless today.
Source: Fox News/Facebook Second Tier debate transcript
, Aug 6, 2015
Create a manufacturing job juggernaut by a 20% flat tax rate
Under my presidency, we'll create jobs and make American the number one manufacturing country in the world. It's worked for 100 years in America--putting people back to work in manufacturing is it.
I'm going to be introducing a plan which I call the 2020 Perfect Vision for America. It's a 20% flat rate tax, it'll take a blowtorch to the IRS. It will create a manufacturing juggernaut in this country.
Source: Fox News/Facebook Second Tier debate transcript
, Aug 6, 2015
GOP must focus on opportunities for middle and lower class
We're a very divided party right now. And I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing. We're having really good debates within the party about our position on national security, our position on immigration, a whole lot of other things.
What we need, though, is a positive vision. One of the reasons
I wrote "Blue Collar Conservatives" just recently, was to provide a positive way forward for the conservative movement, because right now we're arguing about a lot of things that are not, in my opinion, core to where the
American public's concerns are. And the American public's concern is that middle income Americans, lower income Americans, aren't rising. Aren't seeing the opportunities. And that's what we have to focus on.
Source: Meet the Press 2014 Interviews of 2016 hopefuls
, Jul 13, 2014
Raising the minimum wage a little is ok, if phased in slowly
Q: What about Pres. Obama's call for raising the minimum wage to $10.10?SANTORUM: I'm not in favor of President Obama's increase. When I was in the Senate and when I was in the House, I did vote for minimum wage increases that were incremental, that
were not inflationary, that did not cost jobs. If you look at the CBO report, half-a-million people would lose their job as a result of the Obama minimum wage increase. I'm talking more in the range of a dollar, phasing that in. I think that will create
a minimum wage. Only about 2% of workers are covered by the minimum wage. Historically, it's between 5% and 7%.
Q: Some in the GOP think there shouldn't be a minimum wage at all. Does this add to Republicans' problems with working people?
SANTORUM:
I think it does. I think you don't see too many Republicans arguing against a minimum wage. I know a few have. But I don't think too many do. if you're going to have a minimum wage, we just need to be reasonable about it and offer an alternative.
Source: CNN SOTU 2014 interview series: 2016 presidential hopefuls
, May 11, 2014
Focus on jobholders as well as job creators
We spend so much time talking to and about the "job creator" and business owner. Economic growth and the role of the job creator should continue to be at the heart of our economic policy, but we need to think about, listen to, and talk about the
JOBHOLDER as well. If conservatives got the vote of every job creator in the country, we'd still lose. We must earn a large portion of the votes of jobholders, because there are far more of them.
Source: Blue Collar Conservatives, by Rick Santorum, p. 47
, Apr 28, 2014
Workers should have secret-ballot elections for unions
Rick initially voted in-favor of allowing states to decide right-to-work laws. These laws protect employees from having to join unions in order to work for a company.Rick's Plan:
As President, Rick Santorum will work to make unions accountable to their members. This includes supporting a
National Right-to-Work law. Santorum will also appoint a new NLRB--without misusing recess appointments--that will protect workers and their right to join or not join a union.
Rick also believes that secret-ballot elections should be the norm whenever a union seeks to represent workers.
Source: Report on presidential campaign website ricksantorum.com
, Feb 17, 2012
National right-to-work law yes; Pennsylvania law no
PAUL: There's obviously a problem with car companies here. We had to bail them out. But there are foreign companies that build cars in this country and they make a living out of this. I think the union problem vs. right-to-work states [is one reason we
outsource jobs to China]. I've chided Sen. Santorum on this because he has voted against right-to-work. But we have to change these conditions to invite people back.SANTORUM: I've already signed a pledge that I would sign a national right-to-work bill
And when I was a senator from Pennsylvania, which is a state that is not a right-to-work state, the state made a decision not to be right to work. And I wasn't going to go to Washington and overturn that from the federal government and do that to the
state.
PAUL: As president, are you going to represent South Carolina or Pennsylvania? That's really the question.
SANTORUM: I said I would support a national right-to-work law and sign it into law, and would support and advocate for one.
Source: South Carolina 2012 GOP debate hosted by CNN's John King
, Jan 19, 2012
Not doing any favors by keeping unemployment for 99 weeks
Q: Do you support extending unemployment benefits when they expire?SANTORUM: We have to look at having a reasonable time for people to get a job and then turn their lives around. But, we've seen this administration extending benefits up to 99 weeks.
I don't support that. I think if you have people who are out of work that long a period of time, without question it makes it harder to find work when you come back. When you're that far long away from a job, then you lose certain skills.
I believe unemployment insurance should go back to the states. Let the states design it. But to have a federal program that roughly and crudely tries to assess the problem of unemployment from state to state and area to area, is the wrong approach.
Give flexibility to the states to operate those programs, as we did on welfare; have either work requirement of job training required as a condition. We're not doing people any favors by keeping them on unemployment insurance for a long period of time.
Source: Fox News debate on MLK Day in Myrtle Beach, SC
, Jan 16, 2012
Unions are good community members but we need right-to-work
Q: [to Perry]: Do you support "right to work" laws on the federal level?PERRY: Actually, it's a federal issue because of the law that was passed that forces the states to make a decision about whether or not they're going to be right to work.
I'm a right to work guy.
SANTORUM: I have signed a pledge that I would support a national right to work. When I was a senator from Pennsylvania, I didn't vote for it because Pennsylvania's not a right to work state, and
I didn't want to vote for a law that would change the law in Pennsylvania, number one. Number two, what can unions do? They can do training. They also do a lot in the community. I work with a lot of labor unions in
Philadelphia and other places to do a lot of community involvement work and they try to participate as good members of the community like the business does.
Source: Meet the Press 2012 GOP New Hampshire debate
, Jan 8, 2012
Offshore jobs return if you repeal manufacturing regulations
Q: You've said that when you were growing up in a PA steel town, 21% of the country was involved in manufacturing. Now it's down to 9%. Can those jobs ever return?SANTORUM: Yeah, the jobs can come back if you create a climate for them to be profitable
We have a lot of manufacturers in Pennsylvania. I don't know a single one who wanted to ship their jobs offshore, who didn't want them in their own community to be able to employ people and see the fruits of their labor benefiting the community that they
live in. What happened was we became uncompetitive. So we need to be competitive. And that's why I proposed taking the corporate tax from 35% and eliminating it, zero percent tax. Allow this to be the manufacturing capital of the world again. Repeal
every regulation the Obama administration has put in place that's over $100 million. Repeal them all. You may have to replace a few, but let's repeal them all because they are all antagonistic to businesses, particularly in the manufacturing sector.
Source: 2011 GOP debate at Dartmouth College, NH
, Oct 11, 2011
Public employee unions have bankrupted states
Q: 22 states in the US are right-to-work states. In the other 28, if a business is a union shop, you have to join the union if you want to work there. Would you support some form of a federal right-to-work law?SANTORUM:
I think the most important area that we have to focus in on when it comes to unions is public employee unions. That's the area of unionization that's growing the fastest and it's costing us the most money.
We've seen these battles on the state level--where unions have really bankrupted states from pension plans--to here on the federal level. I do not believe that state or federal workers should be involved in unions.
And I would actually support a bill that says that we should not have public employee unions for the purposes of wages and benefits to be negotiated.
Source: 2011 GOP Google debate in Orlando FL
, Sep 22, 2011
Focus the Fed on sound money, rather than job creation
Q: What is your position on the Federal Reserve?A: What we should do with the Fed is to make it a single charter instead of a dual charter. I think the second charter that was instituted that had it be responsible for increasing employment and dealing
with that leads to a fundamental distrust among the American people that they are taking their eye off the ball, which is sound money. They should be a sound money Federal Reserve. That should be their single charter, and that is it.
Source: 2011 GOP Tea Party debate in Tampa FL
, Sep 12, 2011
The federal government kills jobs!
Q: Can a president create jobs without expanding the role of the federal government? A: The federal government kills jobs! We don't need more programs & bureaucrats telling business how to operate.
I believe in free people to grow our economy not government. I proposed getting America making things again. A 0% corporate tax rate on all manufacturing, cut regulations and drill for oil and gas
Source: 2011 Republican primary debate on Twitter.com
, Jul 21, 2011
Voted NO on raising the minimum wage to $7.25 rather than $6.25.
Vote to increase the minimum wage from $5.15 per hour to $7.25 per hour, over a two-year time period, in three incremental stages. Without the amendment, the minimum wage would increase to $6.25 per hour.
Reference: Amendment to the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938;
Bill S AMDT 44 to S 256
; vote number 2005-26
on Mar 7, 2005
Voted YES on repealing Clinton's ergonomic rules on repetitive stress.
Vote to pass a resolution to give no enforcement authority to ergonomics rules submitted by the Labor Department during the Clinton Administration. These rules would force businesses to take steps to prevent work-related repetitive stress disorders
Reference:
Bill S J Res 6
; vote number 2001-15
on Mar 6, 2001
Voted YES on killing an increase in the minimum wage.
The Kennedy (D-MA) Amdt would have increased the minimum wage by $1 an hour over two years, to $5.65 an hour beginning Jan. 1, 2001. The Kennedy Amdt would have also provided $9.5 billion in tax cuts over five years.
Status: Motion to Table Agreed to Y)50; N)48; NV)2
Reference: Motion to table Kennedy Amdt #2751;
Bill S. 625
; vote number 1999-356
on Nov 9, 1999
Voted YES on allowing workers to choose between overtime & comp-time.
This bill would have allowed workers to choose between overtime and compensatory time.
Status: Cloture Motion Rejected Y)53; N)47
Reference: Motion to invoke cloture on a Committee amdt to S. 4;
Bill S. 4
; vote number 1997-68
on May 15, 1997
Voted NO on replacing farm price supports.
Replaces farm price supports with seven years of annual fixed payments.
Status: Bill Passed Y)64; N)32; NV)4
Reference: Agriculture Market Transition Act of 1996;
Bill S. 1541
; vote number 1996-19
on Feb 7, 1996
Rated 0% by the AFL-CIO, indicating an anti-union voting record.
Santorum scores 0% by the AFL-CIO on union issues
As the federation of America’s unions, the AFL-CIO includes more than 13 million of America’s workers in 60 member unions working in virtually every part of the economy. The mission of the AFL-CIO is to improve the lives of working families to bring economic justice to the workplace and social justice to our nation. To accomplish this mission we will build and change the American labor movement.
The following ratings are based on the votes the organization considered most important; the numbers reflect the percentage of time the representative voted the organization's preferred position.
Source: AFL-CIO website 03n-AFLCIO on Dec 31, 2003