There was a time I would painstakingly go to Newt.org and show you point by point how santorum has stolen most of his ideas from Newt, I don't do that anymore. It's not worth the time. But you can go to newt.org and look at solutions, legislative proposals, day one.
Santorum has taken to plagiarizing many of his speeches directly from Newt, it is really unseemly, but he's a good christian man so none of that matters. Santorum - the Republican Barack Obama - supported by people who will not see.
For me, the important thing is NOT who originally had the idea but WHAT POLICIES he supports.
FOR INSTANCE,
Who cares if Newt originally thought of the repeal of the EPA rule on CO2 emissions that have already shut down six power plants and furlowed 500 workers.
Who cares if Newt originally thought of ordering a review of all regulations, making sure these regulations use sound science and common-sense cost benefit analysis.
THE IMPORTANT THING IS SANTORUM SUPPORTS THE RIGHT POLICIES FOR THIS COUNTRY EVEN IF THE IDEAS WERE NOT ORIGINALLY HIS.
Take Paul Ryan’s Medicare reform plan, those were his ideas. Santorum is on record as publicly supporting the plan ( and the plan isn’t his to begin with ). Why would we hold it against him if he did?
This isn’t a college essay where plagiarism is a no-no, this is about IDEAS THAT NEED TO BE IMPLEMENTED FOR THE GOOD OF THIS COUNTRY.
I don’t care who rips off whose ideas, as long as they are the right ones that will be good for this country.
I’ll be against Santorum only if he is on record as opposing fiscal policies that are good for this country, but not until.
So please Rick, take as many good policy ideas from others as much as you want. I don’t care if they were originally your own or not. JUST IMPLEMENT THEM.
I did go to newt.org His ideas are generic ideas that every candidate in this race used one or more of......and Newt did not invent them. For Instance: How is Rick stealling Newts ideas? There budgets are so different?
Rick: If elected, Santorum pledges to cut $5 trillion in federal spending over 5 years.
He plans to freeze spending for 5 years on defense as well as on social programs like Medicaid, Housing, Education, Job Training, and Food Stamps.
He wants to pass a Balanced Budget Amendment to the Constitution, which would cap government spending at 18% of GDP. This would force the President and Congress to balance the budget like Governors do.
Santorum believes in a return to the Reagan era pro-growth tax rate. He wants to simplify personal income taxes by cutting the number of tax rates to just two, 10% and 28%.
He plans to simplify the tax code, reduce overall taxes by eliminating the Estate Tax, and cut middle income taxes by eliminating the Alternative Minimum Tax.
He wants to reduce taxes for families by tripling the personal deduction for each child and by eliminating marriage tax penalties.
He has pledged to cut the corporate income tax rate in half, from 33.5% to 17.5%.
New: Stop the 2013 tax increases to promote stability in the economy. Job creation improved after Congress extended tax relief for two years in December. We should make the rates permanent.
Make the United States the most desirable location for new business investment through a bold series of tax cuts, including: Eliminating the capital gains tax to make American entrepreneurs more competitive against those in other countries; Dramatically reducing the corporate income tax (among highest in the world) to 12.5%; Allowing for 100% expensing of new equipment to spur innovation and American manufacturing; Ending the death tax permanently.
Move toward an optional flat tax of 15% that would allow Americans the freedom to choose to file their taxes on a postcard, saving hundreds of billions in unnecessary costs each year. This optional flat tax system will preserve deductions on charitable giving and home ownership, and create a new personal deduction of $12,000 for every American. This deduction is well above the current poverty level, ensuring that this new system does not unfairly target the poor.
Strengthen the dollar by returning to the Reagan-era monetary policies that stopped runaway inflation and reforming the Federal Reserve to promote transparency.
Remove obstacles to job creation imposed by destructive and ineffective regulations, programs and bureaucracies. Steps include: Repealing the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, which did nothing to prevent the financial crisis and is holding companies back from making new investments in the U.S; Repealing the Community Reinvestment Act, the abuse of which helped cause the financial crisis; Repealing the Dodd-Frank Law which is killing small independent banks, crippling loans to small businesses and crippling home sales; Breaking up Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, moving their smaller successors off government guarantees and into the free market; Replacing the Environmental Protection Agency with an Environmental Solutions Agency that works collaboratively with local government and industry to achieve better results; and Modernizing the Food and Drug Administration to get lifesaving medicines and technologies to patients faster.
Implement an American energy policy that removes obstacles to responsible energy development and creates jobs in the United States.
Balance the budget by growing the economy, controlling spending, implementing money saving reforms, and replacing destructive policies and regulatory agencies with new approaches.
Repeal and replace Obamacare with a pro-jobs, pro-responsibility health plan that puts doctors and patients in charge of health decisions instead of bureaucrats.
Fundamental reform of entitlement programs with the advice and help of the American people. Read an extended white paper on this here.