[Vision2020] Santorum reports millions in income as Washington consultant

[Art Deco]

 It's hard to deny that you are a whore when caught standing on the corner
in the tenderloin with a short skirt and no underwear.



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   Santorum reports millions in income as Washington consultant By Dan
Eggen<http://www.washingtonpost.com/dan-eggen/2011/02/28/ABg0isM_page.html>and
Rosalind S. Helderman, Published:
February 16

Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum <http://wapo.st/rwKrVx>,
whose humble coal-country biography is central to his political message,
made more than $3.6 million in recent years as a Washington consultant and
claimed a German luxury sedan as a business expense, according to tax
returns released by his campaign.

Santorum’s growing wealth after leaving Congress could complicate his
attempt to focus on his history as the grandson of a hardscrabble coal
miner, particularly as the GOP nomination race narrows to a contest between
him and former Massachusetts governor Mitt
Romney<http://www.washingtonpost.com/mitt-romney-2012-presidential-candidate/gIQANxIecO_topic.html>,
a former private-equity manager.

The new financial details came as the Santorum and the Romney campaigns
converged in their newest battleground of Michigan, trading brickbats over
who was most opposed to the auto industry bailout and labor unions.

Romney also effectively killed a
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/post/mitt-romney-to-skip-last-pre-super-tuesday-debate/2012/02/16/gIQAG0ECIR_blog.html>March
1 debate<http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/santorum-reports-millions-in-income-as-washington-consultant/2012/02/16/gIQAVGknIR_print.html>in
Georgia by deciding to back out, leaving just one such event between
now
and Super Tuesday on March 6.

Meanwhile, former House speaker Newt Gingrich, who is attempting to stage a
third comeback in the race, capped a fundraising tour in California, where the
campaign said<http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/election-2012/post/newt-gingrich-raises-2-million-in-california/2012/02/16/gIQAPTcCIR_blog.html>it
had raised $2 million so far this year.

Santorum has sought to play
down<http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/santorum-plays-down-long-history-as-washington-insider/2012/01/05/gIQAHQFYdP_story.html>the
money he made as a Washington consultant-for-hire after his time in
the
Senate, focusing instead on his working-class background and socially
conservative beliefs. The strategy helped produce a spate of primary
victories and a rapid rise in the polls, leaving him as the main rival to
Romney in Michigan and other upcoming contests.

But the tax returns released by his campaign could serve to remind voters
of his strong ties to Washington, where he and his wife earned as much as
$1.1 million a year after he left Congress in 2007. Much of Santorum’s
income was earned from contracts with firms such as Pennsylvania-based
Consol Energy, though Santorum never registered as a lobbyist, disclosure
records show.

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.

“I felt very successful in . . . you know, making money,” Santorum said
during the Wednesday night appearance, adding: “Also was very successful in
paying taxes.”

Personal tax rates have become a flashpoint in the presidential race
largely because of Romney, a multimillionaire former equity fund manager
who pays about half the tax rate of his rivals because most of his income
comes from investments. President Obama and other Democrats have proposed a
higher rate for such income, an idea generally opposed by Republicans.

Santorum paid an effective federal tax rate of about 28 percent from 2007
to 2011, well above the 13.9 percent rate paid by Romney in 2010, according
to returns released by the two candidates.

Gingrich paid about 32 percent of his $3.2 million income in taxes in 2010,
according to his federal returns. Rep. Ron Paul (R-Tex.) is the only major
presidential candidate who has not released his returns, joking in one
debate that he would be embarrassed by his lack of wealth.

Romney, who has reported in disclosure forms that he is worth as much as
$260 million, has struggled to connect
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/post/mitt-romneys-working-class-problem/2012/02/15/gIQAKJOtGR_blog.html>with
lower-income voters in the early GOP nominating contests, a gap that
Santorum is hoping to exploit. In an appearance
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/election-2012/post/santorum-says-his-position-on-auto-bailout-more-consistent-than-romneys/2012/02/16/gIQADeiBIR_blog.html>at
the Detroit Economic Club Thursday, Santorum characterized himself as “a
candidate who cares about everyone and gives them the opportunity to rise
in society.”

Santorum also attacked Romney for supporting the government loans given to
Wall Street banks during the economic crisis, arguing that he is more
conservative than Romney by opposing all bailouts.

“Governor Romney supported the bailout of Wall Street and decided not to
support the bailout of Detroit,” Santorum said. “My feeling was that
government should not be involved in bailouts, period. I think that’s a
much more consistent position.”

Romney spokeswoman Andrea Saul called Santorum a “typical politician” who
had said favorable things about the Wall Street bailout in the past.
“Senator Santorum went to Washington and never left — in word and in deed,”
Saul said.

Santorum, 53, has had a rocky history when it comes to residency issues,
coming under fire<http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/02/25/AR2006022501176.html>during
the 2006 campaign for living outside of Pennsylvania and for
receiving a mortgage from a private bank run by a major campaign donor. The
father of seven also clashed with a Pennsylvania school board for enrolling
several of his children in online classes through that district despite
living in Virginia.

The newly released tax returns, which were first provided to Politico
Wednesday night, show Santorum and his wife claiming mortgage deductions
for their McLean house, which sits on a five-acre lot with a swimming pool,
according to county records.

The house was initially bought by a trust formed by Santorum and a McLean
real estate attorney, carrying a mortgage of $2 million — more than the
property’s peak assessed value of $1.65 million in 2008, Fairfax County
records show. The house was transferred in 2009 to Santorum and his wife,
who hold a $1 million mortgage on the property, which is now valued at
about $1.25 million, records show.

Santorum also owns five rental properties in State College, Pa., and
claimed business-related deductions for a Chevy Trailblazer in 2007 and an
Audi A6 in 2008.

Santorum and his wife, Karen, trail their
rivals<http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/post/romney-and-obama-vie-for-title-of-most-charitable-santorum-gave-least-to-charity/2012/02/16/gIQA3YPyHR_blog.html>by
giving about 1.8 percent of their income to charity in 2010, when they
earned $923,000. Gingrich and his wife were next, with a 2.8 percent
charitable giving rate.

Romney and his spouse donated about 13.8 percent of their $21.6 million in
gross income to the Mormon church and other charitable causes in 2010.
President Obama and first lady Michelle Obama reported donating
14.2 percent of their 2010 income to charity.

* *

* *

Helderman reported from Detroit. Staff writers Amy Gardner in Los Angeles
and researcher Lucy Shackelford in Washington also contributed to this repor
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Art Deco (Wayne A. Fox)
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