Will the Real Rick Santorum Please Stand Up

Foster Friess, a Santorum backer, told Andrea Mitchell, a star reporter on MSNBC, on Thursday that he favors an “inexpensive” form of birth control — abstinence.

“You know, back in my days, they used Bayer aspirin for contraception,” he said. “The gals put it between their knees, and it wasn’t that costly.”

Women’s groups denounced Friess’s remarks.

“Birth control is basic health care and used almost universally by women,” replied Planned Parenthood president Cecile Richards. “It is not something to belittle on national TV.”

Santorum, who was speaking at an event in Michigan on Thursday, said: “Foster is a well-known jokester. That was a stupid joke. I’m not responsible for every bad joke someone I happen to know or who supports me tells.” He added, “Obviously I don’t agree with the basic premise.”

The issue of birth control has flared into a major GOP campaign problem because of the congressional debate centered on the requirement that employers provide preventive-care services to women at no cost, including contraceptives. Initial regulations allowed churches to opt out, but required faith-based universities and hospitals to comply.

After a firestorm of protest from the Catholic Church and the social and religious conservative wings of the American right, the White House revised the rule. Under the new rules, employees at faith-based institutions that object to contraceptives will have them paid for by insurance companies.

Some religious leaders contend that the new rule does not go far enough because it does not guarantee that their premium dollars do not get spent on contraceptives.

Ten faith leaders accused the Obama administration of violating religious freedom, while testifying before a congressional committee on Thursday.

“This provision is draconian in that it invades the realm of conscience for us,” said Matthew Harrison, an official with the Lutheran Church in Missouri.

“The issue here is forcing the church to provide [contraceptives] directly or indirectly in contravention of the Church’s teachings,” said William E. Lori, head of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Ad Hoc Committee for Religious Liberty. “That’s what we don't want to do. It’s one thing when tax dollars pay for it; it’s another when church dollars do.”

Democrats at the hearing defended the birth control provision as crucial for women’s health and noted that many women use contraceptives for purposes other than preventing pregnancy.

 Catholic universities are still sorting out whether they will comply with the new provision or no longer provide health insurance to their employees.

“The health-care law makes the decision almost impossible,” said John Garvey, president of Catholic University of America, who also testified. “There’s a fine of almost $2,000 [per employee] per year if we don’t provide insurance. We’re not an institution rich enough to afford that penalty, so I’m trying to not look that far down the road.”

This, dear readers, has hit Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum full square because of his long-time opposition to any form of birth control. While he may say that he disagrees with the bad joke told by Mr. Friess, his own books quote him as believing that any form of contraception is unacceptable.

Mr. Santorun, while pronouncing on birth control as if he were Pope, also has another problem this weekend. His team has just released his tax returns, and - Surprise! - it turns out that he has earned more than $3.6 million as a Washington consultant and claimed a German luxury sedan as a business expense in the years after he left the Senate in 2007.

This set of facts may make it very difficult for Santorum to continue to use his “humble coal-country biography” as a large part of his political message. Blue collar workers, whose support has helped Santorum shoot to the top in GOP presidential primary races recently, may want to know why he is courting them while also raking in millions as a non-registered consultant in the power corridors of Washington.

He paid federal income taxes ranging from $167,000 in 2007 to $310,000 in 2009. Santorum said during a CNN interview that he felt “very blessed” in his financial success after leaving Congress, but said he and his wife also had a “couple setbacks” that forced them to take out a series of mortgages on their house.

Ho-hum.  What goes around comes around, Rick…you can’t have it all ways.

Are you a rich consultant or a poor coal miner’s son?

Are you for women’s rights or against them? The more than 50% of American voters who are women will need to have an answer - soon.

I hope it is too late for these questions to matter because your fast and loose campaign rhetoric and attacks on the other GOP candidates make me very uneasy and I hope it will finally become clear to a lot of Republicans that you are not the paragon of virtue you purport to be.

In fact, maybe you’re just a little bit like the Wicked Witch of the West trying to get hold of the Red Slippers so you can dance down the Yellow Brick Road. My advice would be to leave that to Judy Garland and Elton John.

Go home. Now!