Republican Presidential Candidate Rick Santorum visited Steubenville, Ohio on Monday as part of his campaign.
The former Pennsylvania Senator arrived at Froehlich's Classic Corner with his wife, Karen, and three of his seven children to begin his speech at 10:18 a.m.
He began his speech by stating that "freedom isn't to do what you want to do, it's to do what we ought to do," and that he has a positive message to give the country.
Having grown up in W.Va. and Penn. as the grandson of a coal miner, Santorum spoke at length about the "rust belt" area and environmental policies. He said that the country needs to develop affordable energy, not just coal, but all types of energy. In regards to the environment, Santorum said that we must use science to maintain a good and stable environment. He also said that the country needs a leader from the coal field who understands what average working people need.
In regards to hydraulic fracking, he said there is no need to regulate and it's just to scare people.
Santorum then went on to discuss the importance of revitalizing the two most important institutions in the country, the church and the family. He said bad things have happened to this country and that there has been a systematic degradation of the American family due to an explosion of out-of-wedlock births and a huge divorce rate.
Due to this, he called this election the most important in this generation's lifetime. "My grandfather didn't come to this country in 1925 to get government benefits," said Santorum, "there were no government benefits, except freedom."
Santorum referred to himself as "this guy wearing a sweater vest traipsing around Iowa a couple months ago and no one knew his name."
In regards to the economy, he said we can't get out of deficit in one year, will take more like 5 years. "We need to take the gifts that God has given us and plow it back in, not for taxes," Santorum said.
He stated that he is against "Obamacare" and that he doesn't want doctors to become wards of the state. Because he has a child, Bella, who is "high cost" medically, she would have been minimally treated or not treated at all if "Obamacare" would happen. He said we need to have a health care system in this country that respects the dignity of human life, all human life.
Santorum even wrote a book called, "It Takes a Family," in reaction to Hilary Clinton's book, "It Takes a Village." In the book he says sacrificial love is the heart of a good and just society. He took some time in his speech to discuss this viewpoint with the Steubenville audience.
In his conclusion, Santorum said that reducing government, cutting taxes, and having a strong military is something he intends to do, but also more. However, he won't lay out an agenda for transforming America, but said that the people can do things without having a government program to fix everything.
Santorum spoke for roughly an hour and spent some time afterwards interacting with the audience.
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