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News
Gen. Hayden's nomination drew fire from some Democrats and civil liberties groups because he headed
the National Security Agency when it began conducting warrantless wiretaps of Americans' international phone calls in a bid
to find possible terrorists... Specter said he did so to protest "the administration's policy of not informing the Congress ... in a way which enables the Congress and the
Judiciary Committee to do our constitutional job on oversight."
Before every election, the Post-Gazette routinely sends letters to the candidates seeking material for the
Voters Guide. Back in March, as part of that process for the primary, the newspaper sent a letter to Rick Santorum at his
home address, at least the one that he claims. Back from Penn Hills came the letter with a sticker from the U.S. Postal Service
checked as "Not Deliverable As Addressed -- Unable To Forward." ...The whole thing is rooted in one
inconvenient fact for Sen. Santorum: He doesn't live here anymore... So what we have is the senator making untrue and
outrageous comments while seeking to hide behind his wife and kids in order to get around an inconvenient fact. We have
a feeling that those who do live here may have something to say about this cowardly tactic at the November polls. Pittsburgh Post Gazette
The Santorums pay property taxes and register their cars in Penn Hills, Pa. They get their teeth cleaned
and eyes checked by area doctors. The family burial site is located there, too. U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum (R., Pa.) cited
those reasons and more in a letter yesterday to the Allegheny County solicitor as proof that a local Democrat's challenge to his residency has no merit. Philadelphia Inquirer
Santorum did not respond to questions, and it is unclear whether he will vote for the
legislation, which President Bush supports. In an article published on his Web site, Santorum noted that he cosponsored the
fencing amendment and emphasized the need for border security. He voted for the English-language provision and against a larger
guest-worker program. He supported two failed amendments: one that would have required border security measures to be complete
and operational before legal status is granted to any immigrant, and another to ensure that the temporary-worker program was
not a "shortcut" to legalization of citizenship. He wants illegal workers to return to their countries and reenter the United
States legally.
The accusations began Tuesday, the day of Pennsylvania’s primary, when Ed Vecchio, husband of the
chairwoman of the local Democratic Party, told KDKA, the local CBS affiliate, that Santorum did not live in Penn Hills. Democrats
have charged Santorum with bilking Penn Hills’ school district to pay for his children’s schooling in Virginia.
According to KDKA’s website. Vecchio said, “The house he’s registered to vote out of is vacant — no
curtains, furniture, nothing in there. It’s been abandoned for over a month. So I feel it’s my right to contest
his vote.”
Santorum exploded Tuesday on television at the perception that Vecchio had been snooping around his home,
and his wife, Karen, called the U.S. Capitol Police, who notified the Penn Hills Police Department, said Chief Burton.
Vecchio
later told reporters that the senator’s home appeared to be empty, a statement that Santorum said was false, according
to The Philadelphia Inquirer. But Vecchio’s wife said she and her husband did not set foot on the property and would
take a lie-detector test to prove it. She said her husband was referring to information from the local media. Burton said
that Mrs. Santorum did not see anyone snooping around the house, that nobody else did either and that police have stepped
up their routine checks on Santorum’s house while cruising the neighborhood.
The vitriol continued Thursday on WILK radio when Santorum said, “Now that he is a nominee, it
is time for him to start acting like a candidate instead of a thug.” Santorum stands by his comments, said Virginia
Davis, Santorum’s spokeswoman. In a response letter, Casey spokesman Larry Smar said, “Santorum is
trying to distract from the real issues. Bob Casey had nothing to do with this. It’s an outrageous and desperate attempt
to change the subject.”
The Senate also approved a provision that would prevent illegal immigrants from petitioning for a guest-worker
permit without the sponsorship an employer. [vote #128] And in a unanimous vote, Senate accepted an amendment that would bar granting work permits to undocumented
immigrants convicted of either a felony or at least three misdemeanors. The measure would effect even those who ignored a
court-deportation order. [vote #125] May 18, 2006
People do not have a right to know the government is collecting information on their phone calls, U.S. Sen.
Rick Santorum said during a Friday visit to Shippensburg. Santorum said the ability of the National
Security Agency to track phone calls is just another tool in the government's war against terrorism and not something that
should have been made public. "Obviously there are things the general public doesn't know . .. and
shouldn't know," he told a (Chambersburg) Public Opinion reporter during a question-and-answer session... "I
don't think it is an invasion of privacy."
Speaking from the Senate floor, U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum (R., Pa.) urged his colleagues
to curtail a popular perk: private corporate-sponsored flights at bargain rates for members of Congress. "This
is clearly a subsidy," he said March 8. Two days earlier, he had taken a BellSouth plane from a
runway near his home in Leesburg, Va., to fund-raising events in North Carolina and South Carolina. The jet ferried Santorum,
two aides and Ward White, BellSouth's top Washington lobbyist. Santorum paid $6,955 - first-class
rates, as Senate rules require, but a fraction of what it costs to operate the plane...
But even as Frist and Sen. Rick Santorum defended the rebate proposal yesterday, other
Republicans were declaring it dead.
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