Santorum Talks Political Past, Future & More

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - Former United States senator Rick Santorum is back in the spotlight this week.

He's now known for his involvement with "America's Foundation," which is a political action committee. He recently sat down with KDKA's Stacy Smith to talk about his political past and future.

"I really felt the last election was the most important election of my lifetime. That we had to put a, put a stop to what was going on in Washington. That we absolutely need to have a big change and we were successful," said Rick Santorum, a former U.S. Senator from Pennsylvania. "I mean that the American people spoke loudly and clearly."

But, what exactly did the American people say?

"'Don't make government bigger; let's make the private sector bigger. Let's put forth an agenda that does that,'" said Santorum. "I think that's what the American public was saying in the last election."

The former senator was a recent guest on the KD-PG Sunday Edition.

While he is critical of the Obama administration, he also was critical of the Bush administration. He said he believes that it was the Bush economic policies that hurt Republicans in 2008.

"Republicans stayed home because they saw President Bush passing the $700 billion TARP bill, bailing out General Motors and Chrysler and saying wait a minute. What's the difference between what Obama is talking about and what Republicans are doing," said Santorum.

"They said if this is what the Republican Party is all about, count us out," added Santorum. "That's why when you saw the resurgence of Conservatism, it didn't come in the form of the Republican Party, it came outside the party in the form of the Tea Party."

As far as issues of the day, Santorum says he wants the Obama health care plan repealed. He says it is already beginning to fall apart.

"And company on top of company is coming to Washington and saying you either wave this or we are going to drop tens of thousands of people from our plans," he said. "States are now coming in asking for the same waivers for their Medicaid populations. This is a tsunami that is building up out there."

As far as the Bush tax cuts, Santorum believes nothing will be done until the new Congress in January. And that Congress will vote to extend the entire tax cut plan.

"Then, President Obama will have to decide whether he wants to sign it or not," said Santorum. "If he doesn't, then I think Republicans are pretty adamant and I think they should be that no taxes, that all of those tax rates will go up on everybody and I don't think the President can withstand that."

Back to the 2012 Presidential Election, Santorum offered his opinion on former Alaska governor Sarah Palin.

"She's a force; she's a huge force in the country. She obviously has a lot of support in the Republican ranks. Look, a lot of people say she'll never run. I don't know what she's going to do. I'll respect whatever she does. I think she has something to contribute and she'll make that decision."

But what about Santorum, when will he decide whether to pursue the White House?

"Next year sometime is when I'll make a decision," he added. "I'll base it on whether, as I say there's a 'there' there. Is there support enough on the ground particularly in these three early primary state to amount a serious effort."

As with any candidate, Santorum says financial support is critical, as will be support from his family.