Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA)
By on Apr 26th, 2006 at 5:52 pm
Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA)
accidentally admits he no longer lives in Pennsylvania. (Background here.)
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Remind me, who in Penn likes this bozo?
April 26th, 2006 at 5:57 pmSantorum really lives on the Moon. He is the biggest of the neo-con wackos and PA should be glad he isn’t living there bringing the collective IQ of the state down.
April 26th, 2006 at 6:06 pmRemind me, who in Penn likes this bozo? – - Michael Smerconish. ‘Nuff said.
April 26th, 2006 at 6:06 pmOoops!
Isn’t he supposed to live in the state he represents?
I guess this says it all.
Just more of the same bullshit from the republicans.
April 26th, 2006 at 6:08 pmArticle I of the U.S. Constitution says, “No person shall be a Senator … who shall not, when elected, be an Inhabitant of that State for which he shall be chosen.†The fudge factor here is the phrase “when elected.” Does that mean “while serving their term”? Seems awfully ambiguous to me, and the sleazy Republicans are experts at one thing – - twisting ambiguity to their advantage.
April 26th, 2006 at 6:13 pmYou’ll notice that Article one clearly states “Inhabitant”
It does not say “Own a home in the State for which he is chosen”
April 26th, 2006 at 6:15 pmI should have highlighted “especially as a permanent resident”
There is no fudge factor.
April 26th, 2006 at 6:16 pmWiddle Wicky’s wost.
April 26th, 2006 at 6:19 pm#6… never studied law, did you?
April 26th, 2006 at 6:23 pmHe’s done.
April 26th, 2006 at 6:25 pm“Inhabit. To dwell in; to occupy permanently or habitually as a residence.” — Black’s Law Dictionary, Seventh Edition, 1999.
April 26th, 2006 at 6:25 pmFirst this:
Then this:
In response to me saying this:
Now tell me why exactly I would need to study law to have you repeat what I said?
April 26th, 2006 at 6:29 pmAs much as I despise Rick “Man on Dog” Santorum and the cesspool of idiocy from which his conservative views froth, I’m inclined to cut him some slack in that I wouldn’t take this as “proof positive” that he no longer considers himself a resident (or “inhabitant”) of PA. Though there is other evidence to suggest that he lives in VA, I’m willing to allow that he used to live in PA, moved out for a while, then (theoretically) moved back, and that this remark was meant in the sense of “when I was living in PA the first time” (italicized mine).
On the other hand, if he doesn’t meet the minimum requirements for PA to consider him an “inhabitant”, then he should reimburse all that money. And hopefully he’ll be made to do that after he loses and no longer has a job. In my home state of New York, I believe you have to actually live in the state for at least thirty days to consider yourself a “resident” (different term, I know), so we have to see what PA law says on the subject before we condemn him for yet another thing. (Not that we need this item to do that.)
April 26th, 2006 at 6:31 pmI’m ashamed that “Sanatorium”, as Tony Soprano calls him and Spector are Senators in my state. He should never be re-elected.
April 26th, 2006 at 6:33 pm#12: OK, good point. I’ll go back to what I was doing . . .
April 26th, 2006 at 6:49 pmI agree with Badmoodman. The article is clear nobody can be elected if not an inhabitant when elected:
No person shall be a Senator … who shall not, when elected, be an Inhabitant of that State for which he shall be chosen.
But what happens after they’ve been elected? Can they move out?
I also agree with Wayne S -that was my impression when I read the transcript. Maybe stacked on top of other evidence….
April 26th, 2006 at 6:51 pmJIMBO you were too quick for me — I also wanted to comment on Senator Sanitorium.
April 26th, 2006 at 6:54 pmHe is a joke – and I don’t mean Tony Soprano. When the senator is mocked as frequently as Sanitoriumthe handwriting is on the wall.
He has been so untruthful so many times, he is done.
#16 Gregor,
It’s like one small piece of the whole puzzle. For example, it turns out that the document that the British relied on for their Iraq-Niger-yellowcake claim was forged. In and of itself it doesn’t prove that the whole war in Iraq was based on lies, but maybe stacked on top of other evidence…
April 26th, 2006 at 6:55 pmRicky Porcelainthrone has a small house in Philly I think, the blog Attytood discussed this after his sweet Mortgage deal came out, so he claims the small house in Philly as his residence, and probably will have to move back if he loses because he will not have the income for his large mortgage payments after the election if he can’t refinance if I remember the blog right.
April 26th, 2006 at 7:09 pmWayne,
I agree. It should be interesting to have more people come out with evidence to show Santorum is not an inhabitant of Pennsylvania.
Not that it would bother this IQ-impaired senator -but hey, maybe his “constituents” care…
On a related note:
Published last year, [Santorum's book] It Takes a Family: Conservatism and the Common Good criticized working mothers and two-income families.
In it, Santorum wrote: “For some parents, the purported need to provide things for their children simply provides a convenient rationalization for pursuing a gratifying career outside the home. Many women… find it easier, more ‘professionally’ gratifying, and certainly more socially affirming, to work outside the home… . Here, we can thank the influence of radical feminism.”
Some Pa. women at his D.C. conference were not so taken with his views on working women.
Women pursuing a gratifying career outside of the home? The gall! The horror! How dare they!?
April 26th, 2006 at 7:12 pm#20 Yeah, it’s that good old 1950’s keep-your-wife-under-your-thumb mentality. Where would Republicans be without it?
Good night all. And Peace on Earth.
April 26th, 2006 at 7:20 pmNo one’s mentioned that Sanitorum has billed his “local” School District in Pennsylvania a ton of money for the private school that he has his daughter enrolled in where he lives now. And the District has been paying this scum bag…..
What a piker. How did republicans ever get to say that they are the party of fiscal & personal responsibility and morality? They’re no better than con men.
April 26th, 2006 at 8:26 pmDon Imus is backing this loser, even has him on his show every other week.
April 26th, 2006 at 8:37 pmHe’s one of the big K Street idiots as well. How he pulls all of this off is beyond me.
But then again, they’ve been pulling off this charade for about 8 years. (Well, actually since the early 90’s when they took over the Congress.) It’s just sickening.
I had heard awhile ago that his house in PA isn’t fit for living. I don’t have any back-up for this but I would be interested to know if this is true.
April 26th, 2006 at 10:12 pmif i may, the legal definition of ‘residence’ is dependent on the statute applied to the particulars of that use of the term.
generally, however, the term ‘residence’ refers to the place that you ‘presently live in or *intend* to upon your return from travel’
for example, the term ‘residence’ for the purpose of voting is your home-town where you live or where you intend to return after, say, attending college out-of-town, or upon returning from a summer in paris.
as for this bastard, and the rules of running for the senate, one would have to check the relevant statute.
that being said, al franken has moved to minnesota–relocated–so that he could, should he choose, run for senator from minnesota…
peace,
fcku bush
April 26th, 2006 at 10:14 pmAhh, the house in PA is 2 bedrooms. His family is 8 strong. Those kids would have to squeeze in tight.
April 26th, 2006 at 10:15 pmif that is the case, #26, then i think one would have to say he is a resident in virginia, and for purposes of the statute, if it maps ‘voting’, he is not a resident of pn.
do we know where he files taxes?
April 26th, 2006 at 10:44 pmThink he’ll finally come out of the closet?
April 26th, 2006 at 11:15 pmsorry, not buying this one. not a convincing clip
April 26th, 2006 at 11:31 pm#29
i agree regarding the clip, but, the news story is rather convincing:
April 27th, 2006 at 12:37 am
The truly tragic part is that the American people have been letting Dick Cheney get away with the exact same scam for six years. Not the home-schooling thing, but the bogus residency.
Article 2, Clause 3 of the Constitution (before and after modification by the 12th Amendment) says that State Electors may not vote for a Pres./VP ticket where both candidates are from the same state as themselves. In other words, if Bush and Cheney are both from Texas, they can still run, but they can’t receive Texas’ electoral votes. This was meant to prevent a populous state, such as Texas, from dominating National politics (unless they could persuade other states to vote for them).
But wait… George Bush was an oilman from Texas. And Dick Cheney was an oilman from Texas. We all know Bush/Cheney 2000 could never have been elected without Texas’ votes. It seems like White House policy for the last six years has been completely dominated by oil interests, like those of the State of Texas, which is what the Founding Fathers apparently wanted to avoid. So how did this happen?
Well, because Dick Cheney used to live in Wyoming. He used to be a Senator from Wyoming, and still owns a house there, although he had been living and working in Texas for Halliburton for years before the 2000 election. So, a month before the 2000 RNC convention, Cheney dropped a Voter Registration Card into his local (Texas) post office, and started telling people he was a Wyoming resident. Voila! Problem solved!
Ya just gotta love these “Original Intent” Republicans.
How did the Democrats respond to this? Why, the same way the responded when Bush/Cheney 04 missed the filing deadline to get on the Florida ballot. They demurely said they didn’t want to start a paperwork-checking war (Maybe Gore or Kerrey had equally silly gaffes in their paperwork?) So, effectively, the Democrats surrendered in the paperwork war before firing a single shot.
So we had two different chances to disqualify Bush/Cheney, and in both cases, Washington politicians (including not only Democrats, but competing Republicans such as McCain) sheepishly stepped aside, because everybody knew it would be futile to stand in their way. This sort of stuff makes one want to wear a tinfoil hat.
April 27th, 2006 at 1:41 amWhat a piker. How did republicans ever get to say that they are the party of fiscal & personal responsibility and morality? They’re no better than con men.
Comment by kindness
They’re worse than con men, most of whom at least don’t pretend to have some moral superiority.
April 27th, 2006 at 2:39 am#27 I am not sure but this isn’t the first time this has come up. This according to Wikipedia,
Residency and tuition controversy
In November 2004, a controversy developed over education costs for Santorum’s children. Santorum’s legal address is a two-bedroom house in Penn Hills, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Pittsburgh. But as a Senator, he lives at his home in Leesburg, Virginia, near Washington, D.C. (Leesburg is located about one hour’s drive west of Washington, D.C., and about 90 minutes’ drive south of the Pennsylvania border). It is about 35 miles from his birthplace of Winchester, VA. Santorum’s five older children received education through the Western Pennsylvania Cyber Charter School with 80 percent of tuition costs paid by the Penn Hills School District. At a meeting in November 2004, the Penn Hills School District announced that it did not believe Santorum met the qualifications for residency status since he and his family spend most of the year in Virginia. They demanded repayment of tuition costs totaling $67,000.
Santorum’s supporters said that the controversy is politically motivated as the school board is controlled by Democrats (Erin Vecchio, the school board member who first publicly raised the issue, is the chair of the local Democratic Party). They also noted that since Santorum votes in Penn Hills and pays property and school taxes there, he is entitled to the same privileges as any other Penn Hills resident and should not be deprived of these privileges as a result of his service in the U.S. Senate.
In November 2004, the Penn Hills Progress, a local paper, reported that Santorum and his wife pay about $2,000 per year in property taxes on the home they own. They also found that another couple – possibly renters – were registered voters at the same address.[19]
Santorum said he would make other arrangements for his children’s education, but insisted that he did not owe the school board any back tuition. On July 8, 2005, a Pennsylvania state hearing officer ruled that the Penn Hills School District had not filed objections to Santorum’s residency in a timely manner and dismissed the complaint. Santorum hailed the ruling as a victory against what he termed “baseless and politically motivated charges.” Santorum told reporters that “[n]o one’s children — and especially not small, school-age children — should be used as pawns in the ‘politics of personal destruction.’” [20]
April 27th, 2006 at 8:04 amHmm, would Santorum live in Leesburg where his home is assessed at $757,000 or the house in Penn Hills which he bought in 97 for $87,000?
April 27th, 2006 at 8:10 amCREW has also filed an ethics complaint against Santorum.
April 27th, 2006 at 8:15 am
Then there’s the whole Homestead Tax Exemption issue where members of Democracy for Pittsburgh came up with the idea to start a petition, questioning how Senator Santorum could take a tax exemption meant for people who live in Allegheny County — who have a PRIMARY residence here — when by all accounts, Santorum lives with his family in Virginia.
April 27th, 2006 at 8:41 amThere’s also the whole Homestead Tax Issue where members of Democracy for Pittsburgh came up with the idea to start a petition, questioning how Senator Santorum could take a tax exemption meant for people who live in Allegheny County — who have a PRIMARY residence here — when by all accounts, Santorum lives with his family in Virginia. Over 750 signatures were gathered and presented to District Attorney Stephen Zappala, Jr.
April 27th, 2006 at 8:45 amHe might not live in PA but he is certainly residing in a closet.
April 27th, 2006 at 12:17 pmSo is Ricky claiming that he lives with the family in the bedroom home in PA and is a renter in VA? Or is VA his vacation home?
Doesn’t matter – Ricky is history. The folks in PA will vote him out of office.
http://www.kutztowndemocrats.org
April 27th, 2006 at 4:49 pm#36, 37
April 27th, 2006 at 10:33 pmMaria in Pgh,
Good luck with your petition! I would definitely sign if I lived in your area.
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March 24th, 2008 at 2:02 amRussel
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March 31st, 2008 at 6:20 pmpersonal property taxes
Very interesting post. A little bit confusing, but still ok.
April 5th, 2008 at 5:16 pmVacation Home Mortgage
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April 11th, 2008 at 6:22 pm