Santorum takes aim at Obama’s policies in Marshalltown

April 28, 2011

By KEN BLACK - Staff Writer


Exploring whether he will seek the Republican nomination for presidency, former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum stopped in Marshalltown Wednesday, addressing issues such as health care reform, the economy and immigration.

Santorum made headlines on Tuesday in Cedar Rapids promising to repeal President Barack Obama's health care bill, if he does seek the nomination and is eventually elected. In its place, he said he would like to see policies that give tax credits to those purchasing health insurance, and possibly begin to move away from a system where health care is tied to employment.

"I don't think any government planner would have sat down and said the best way to provide health insurance is to attach it to employment," he said. "We have attached things that are not related to employment and health care is not related to employment."

Santorum said the biggest problem with Obama's plan is not the individual mandate, as troublesome as that may be.

"The biggest problem with the Obama system is the government control of the health care system. It requires basic benefit packages. It tells you how you will get your insurance," he said. "It's just a micromanagement of the health care system."

Santorum did not mention a price tag for his alternative health care plan, but said it is not too different than what is already being done. Health care insurance is already subsidized by the government. It's just done through employers, he said.

The Republican also took aim at Obama's managing of the economy, saying he had some real concerns about the value of the dollar and the potential for harmful inflation. He said most of the problems the country is currently experiencing in terms of economics are due to the president's philosophy about business.

Santorum believes the president's overall attitude about business is negative and he has put policies in place that have hurt private enterprise.

"So they have to compensate and the way they compensate is to pump a bunch of money into the system," Santorum said.

Regarding immigration, Santorum did not say whether he personally would support a pathway to legalization for undocumented immigrants already in the country. However, he said it does not matter that much, because the American people likely would not support it until there is a way to ensure more immigrants don't flood into the country illegally.

"I've been pretty clear. I don't think it's even possible to do anything even minor and get any consensus in America until we have secured the border," he said.

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