Santorum gauging interest in presidential race
It’s politician season.
Iowa has always been known for its “first in the nation” role when it comes to presidential elections, and with the 2016 campaign season looming, some politicians have started to make the rounds.
Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum visited cities throughout southwest Iowa, including Red Oak, last Tuesday. He said although he hasn’t declared his candidacy for a presidential run, he is trying to gauge the public’s response to him.
Santorum sat down with a small crowd Tuesday morning at the Firehouse Restaurant to discuss issues such as ISIS, the affordable healthcare act and why a Republican should be the next president.
“If you look at the last six races for president, Republicans have lost [four] out of six,” Santorum said. “The only one we won was an election where national security was an important factor in the equation.”
Santorum spoke about President Barack Obama’s efforts to remove American troops from overseas and the “cancer” that are terrorists groups.
“[Once troops were removed,] as predicted, an insurgency started in the form of ISIS,” Santorum said. “The interesting thing about ISIS is that … what you see in the Middle East with these radical Islamic groups, they’re like a cancer. And if you’ve ever had cancer, or certainly known people with cancer, if you go in and you’re able to take out a cancer and you’re able to get 95 percent of the cancer, if you don’t get it all, then that [cancer] comes back. And that’s what keeps happening. We don’t get it all.”
The politician went on to answer questions about the affordable healthcare act. He spoke on the constitutionality of Obama’s plan for affordable healthcare due to the providing of government subsidies. Without the subsidies in place, the insurance won’t be so affordable.
“That’s why the rubber’s going to hit the road, potentially, when the Supreme Court decides, which I suspect they will, that what the Obama administration is doing is against the law, by subsidizing these federal plans that are in these states,” Santorum said. “So, you’re going to see, overnight, 34 states, I think it is, have dramatic increases. People are going to lose their subsidies and have to pay the difference.”
Santorum said he believes all Americans have the right to insurance, he just believes the current act is not the best way. The politician said he thinks there should be no difference in whether insurance is provided through an employer or self-bought.
“You can make the argument that government shouldn’t be involved at all and they shouldn’t provide any incentives, I would make the argument that if government doesn’t provide proper incentives to encourage people to buy health insurance, then, ultimately, government’s going to end up paying for this any way,” Santorum said.
After an hour-and-a-half-long discussion with Red Oak citizens, Santorum visited Clarinda, Shenandoah, Sidney and Glenwood for town hall meetings.