He doesn't speak for everybody, but he does speak what many of us believe. I personally think there is no constitutional basis to use taxpayer money for the benefit of anybody. A strict application of the U.S. Constitution says that the federal government will pass whatever laws/regulation are necessary to provide the common defense, promote (not provide) the general welfare, meaning everybody's welfare, not targeted groups, and secure our unalienable rights, and then will leave us alone to form whatever society we wish to have within our respective states and communities.
No President is going to be able to roll back all the extra unconstitutional stuff that has been included in the federal government over the last century, but the best we can hope is to get a President who won't escalate that and will start rolling back some of it. Santorum (or any of the GOP hopefuls) will probably do that as well as anybody we will elect. The current occupant of the White House has greatly escalated bigger, all encompassing government and is pledged to do a whole lot more of it.
But it is important to continue to teach important truths:
The federal government not providing or mandating free condoms for kids does not prevent kids from buying condoms. But there is a reasonable argument that providing free condoms to kids is the same as sanctioning kids to have sex early and often.
The federal government not providing or mandating free contraceptives to anybody does not prevent people from getting contraceptives. There is an argument that nobody who would actually use a contraceptive is likely to be unable to afford it.
The federal government not paying for women to get abortions does not stop women from getting abortions. The whole abortion controversy will continue to rage on without a clear concensus, but it should be settled at the state or local levels and within each person's conscience. The people's money should not be taken at the federal level for that reason any more than than it should be taken to buy people a gun or pay the states to execute people or buy Bibles, all of which are also legal.
It would be great if the federal government was an unlimited money machine that would allow the entire population to go on perpetual vacation and not have to worry about a thing. But as is crystal clear on my "Two Cultures" thread, most of us don't think any of us have a right or privilege to have the government pay for our food, clothing, housing, transportation, etc. Why should we have a right or privilege for the government to pay for or require others to pay for our contraceptives and/or abortions?
For Santorum (or anybody else) to take the position that we shouldn't and we don't is not hate speech. It is a very reasonable position that I, for one, very much want my President to take.
