And Now For Some Good News...

Politico.com reported last night that former Pennsylvania senator Rick Santorum is set to visit Iowa this fall to get a feel for a possible 2012 run for Obama's job. As a resident of the Keystone State, I'm ecstatic. As a conservative/libertarian, I'm even happier.

Rick Santorum lost his Senate seat to Bob "No Show" Casey in 2006 when he was portrayed by the Casey campaign as being a Bush crony. Those who know Rick Santorum realize that that was an extremely inaccurate portrayal. Rick was just a victim of what was, at that time, a growing disdain for Bush and everything Republican.

I was fortunate enough to attend a fundraising dinner in 2005 at Nemacolin Woodlands Resort at which then Senator Santorum spoke. Zell Miller, former Democratic representative from Georgia also gave a speech that night. You talk about a conservative's dream double feature!

Not only is Santorum intelligent and articulate, he stands on his principles. I've seen him give interviews on Ash Wednesday with the ashes still on his forehead. He's not ashamed of his faith. Should he disagree, even with members of his own party, he'll say so.

His speech that night focused mainly on the coming Islamic encroachment on western civilization. It wasn't until a few years later, as I heard more of Sharia law being implemented in various places around the globe, that I realized how prophetic his words were. That night, however, I remember looking directly at my husband during the standing ovation for Rick and saying, "We just heard from a future President of the United States." It was magical.

Here are Mr. Santorum's views on some of the issues.

• Illegal immigration -- Opposes amnesty for illegals; supports a fence, extra border agents, and immediate deportation for illegals who commit crimes. He also supports making English the official language of the U.S.
• Abortion -- VERY STRONGLY opposes abortion; authored the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act of 2003, which was signed into law by George W. Bush.
• Welfare Reform -- Author and key sponsor of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (signed into law by Bill Clinton).
• Social Security -- supports voluntary privatization; supports retirees to maintain IRA's.
  
• Same-sex Marriage -- supports the Defense of Marriage Act, which would declare marriage to be between one man and one woman.
  
• Crime -- supports limited death penalty appeals; supports limiting product liability punitive damages
• Education -- Tried to get an amendment into NCLB that would require schools to teach intelligent design in addition to evolution; supports school vouchers and Educational Savings Accounts; supports giving federal funds only to those schools who allow voluntary prayer.
• Energy -- supports drilling in ANWR; supports defunding renewable and solar energy sources; believes drilling in ANWR is a national security issue.
• Government Reform -- supports requiring photo ID to vote; voted against McCain-Feingold campaign finance reform; supports the presidential line-item veto.
• Gun Control -- does not support background checks at gun shows or suing gun manufacturers for crime; introduced legislation to eliminate the requirement of giving a SSN for a hunting or fishing license.
• Healthcare -- supports limiting medical liability lawsuits to $250,000; voted against tougher tobacco restrictions; supports medical savings accounts.
• Homeland Security -- voted against maintaining habeas corpus for Gitmo prisoners; voted against requiring CIA reports on detainees and interrogation methods; voted against the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty.
• Taxes -- supports a super majority for tax increases; supports permanent repeal of the estate tax; supports eliminating the marriage penalty; supports low capital gains taxes.

The list is based on his voting record while in the Senate from 1994-2006. More information can be found at On the Issues. Please go there and read his voting record on numerous pieces of legislation; it's worth the time to be informed.

I know it's still a very long road until 2012, but I will honestly say that I haven't been this excited since seeing Hugh Jackman's naked butt in X-Men Origins: Wolverine.

On the Issues has Santorum categorized as a hard-core conservative. While that doesn't agree with some of my libertarian leanings, I gotta admit that it's a helluva lot better than the current occupant of the White House.