Why Rick Santorum’s Pennsylvania Residency Scam and School Tuition Fraud Still Matters – And Why He Can’t Be the Nominee Because of It
With Rick Santorum’s close second place finish in last night’s Iowa Caucus, renewed attention will focus on the residency scam and tuition fraud Santorum perpetrated while serving as a United States Senator representing the Keystone state in the early 2000s.
Here’s a detailed look at what Santorum did, why it was illegal, and how this will affect his campaign for the Republican presidential nomination going forward.
I have no doubt in the coming days and weeks the agenda-driven media is going to smear Rick Santorum with references to the long-sustained Internet “Google Bomb” campaign directed at Santorum by Dan Savage and other members of the Left’s Gaystapo goon squad (namely, the high profile gay writers, talking heads, and self-styled “activists” who regularly come out in force to malign conservative political figures to service some purpose for the Left). If you type the word “santorum” into Google, you’ll find extensive references to feces and the staining of bedsheets with the same. This was the Gaystapo’s effort to prevent Santorum from ever having a career on the national stage, since they presumed creating a “Google problem” for Santorum involving such a close tie to feces would make him a pariah in conservative ranks.
For those who still need someone to point this stuff out for you, this is a classic Alinsky tactic, whereby savage singled Santorum out, polarized him, directed a novel personal attack against him, and attempted to make Santorum such a radioactive laughing stock that the rest of the Republican Party would seek to avoid him (lest they, too, be associated with the word “santorum” in Google results).
Well, Rick Santorum just came 8 votes from winning the Iowa Caucus, so Dan Savage failed with all that feces.
But, Santorum’s a fatally flawed candidate on the national stage regardless of anything the Gaystapo did to him…and this liability is 100% Santorum’s own fault. It’s also something Santorum has never come clean about or taken responsibility for in the slightest.
The real reason that Santorum lost re-election in 2006 by such a wide margin is because of the residency scam and school tuition fraud he perpetrated in the state of Pennsylvania while he was a sitting United States Senator.
When most people heard the name “Santorum” in Pennsylvania in the leadup to the 2006 race, they didn’t automatically think of feces, but became angry over “Santorum’s empty Pittsburgh house” and “Santorum demanding hundreds of thousands of dollars in tuition reimbursement for all those kids of his”.
I lived in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania from 2003-2005 and was active politically at the time, routinely canvassing neighborhoods for various candidates. Time and again, people would practically foam at the mouth with anger over the shady things Santorum did with his residency and his children’s education “reimbursement”.
Here are the facts that upset Pennsylvanians so much:
* In 2004, while serving as a United States Senator, Rick Santorum claimed his legal address was a house in the Pittsburgh suburb of Penn Hills, which was immediately next door to the home of his wife’s parents. During the spring and summer of that year — in the leadup to the presidential election — Pittsburgh news crews started investigating whether or not Santorum really lived in the house he claimed as his Pennsylvania residence. Several of these “investigative reports” showed the Penn Hills “Santorum House” as abandoned, with an unkempt lawn, peeling paint, and junk mail piled up near the front door – as if no one had visited the house in many months. When the cameras peeked inside the house, viewers saw room after room empty of any furnishings; it was clear that the Santorum family did not live at that residence at all.
* The Pittsburgh media made a great stink over this, which quickly spread to average men and women on the street who became upset that Santorum didn’t really live at his “official residence”. The reason this really hit home with Pennsylvanians was because Santorum had railed against Congressman Doug Walgren for moving out of his own district and not maintaining a real residence there. Pennsylvanians hate hypocrisy — and that’s just what Rick Santorum was…a hypocrite…for haranguing Walgren for not living in his district when Santorum himself didn’t even live in the state of Pennsylvania anymore.
* Records ultimately showed that Santorum lived exclusively in a $600,000+ near-mansion in Virginia. This is another thing you need to understand about Pennsylvanians to appreciate just how damaging this was to Santorum. On paper, Santorum claimed his residence was a $90,000 modest house in a suburb of Pittsburgh, when in reality that house was abandoned and Santorum was REALLY living in a house six times as expensive in another state. Here in Chicago, $600,000 can’t buy you a big house, but in Pittsburgh it would land you a palace…so the people who heard about Santorum’s residency scam were enraged that he “abandoned the state” and “lied to his constituents” by living in what they perceived to be a mansion instead of the Penn Hills residence he claimed.
* After the 2004 election was over, Santorum very quietly tried to eliminate the appearance that his Penn Hills home was abandoned by renting it out to unnamed individuals. This didn’t solve the problem, but only made things worse, because the renters registered to vote using Santorum’s Penn Hills address. It’s a similar situation to what Rahm Emanuel found himself in when he rented out his Chicago home when he moved to Washington, only to later try to claim he still lived there — technically — when he wanted to run for Mayor of Chicago. Just like with Emanuel, Santorum was able to survive the residency challenge because he paid $2,000 worth of property taxes a year on his Penn Hills home and still held its deed…even though he hadn’t lived there in many years and had no intention of moving back there (at least not until the lease expired with the people he rented it to).
* The net effect of all this was an ingrained sense amongst Pennsylvanians that Rick Santorum couldn’t be trusted, was a slippery snake, and that the things he did “just weren’t right, even if they were legal”.
* The other shoe to drop in all of this was the question of where, exactly, Santorum’s children were living and who was paying for their education — the people of Pennsylvania or the people of Virginia. Even though Santorum’s family was clearly living in Virginia, Santorum was billing the state of Pennsylvania — and the Penn Hills School District in particular — around $40,000 per child to educate each of his five children in the “Western Pennsylvania Cyber Charter School”. After the Pittsburgh local news stations started showing viewers the tours of Santorum’s empty and abandoned Penn Hills home, irate citizens started demanding an investigation into the legality of Santorum charging the Penn Hills school district for the expensive education of five children who didn’t really live there, and instead were living in Virginia.
* Things got incredibly ugly as this was all hashed out in both the media and in the court of public opinion. Ultimately, Santorum yanked his kids out of the “Cyber Charter School” program and had his wife Karen start homeschooling them instead — but he refused to reimburse the state for the hundreds of thousands of dollars that were spent “cyber-schooling” the Santorum children while they lived in the state of Virginia. When confronted about any of this, Santorum became incredibly brittle on camera, lashing out at those who questioned him, and earning a solid reputation as an insufferable and impersonable jackass.
* A paperwork error on the part of the Penn Hills School District resulted in Santorum never having to reimburse the state for the hundreds of thousands of dollars in “cyber tuition” money, because the school district missed a deadline in filing their complaint.
* In 2006, whoever was renting the Santorums’ Penn Hills house was moved out and the place became abandoned and unoccupied again. During his Senate re-election campaign, Santorum claimed when confronted on the residency issue that he and his family were commuting back and forth to Pittsburgh every weekend and that he was spending “every holiday” in the Penn Hills home. But, the Pittsburgh news crews went there again and found the place unkempt and unfurnished, the same way it was back in 2004 the last time this issue arose. Instead of admitting he didn’t actually live in that Penn Hills house and was so stupid that he allowed this to blow up in his face again, Santorum just became brittle and angry at anyone who challenged him on it — resulting in more bad press coverage for him and more Pennsylvanians believing he was an emotionally unhinged liar.
* In one of the debates between Santorum and Bob Casey, the Democrat Senate nominee, in 2006, Santorum admitted that he only spent about 30 days or less in that Penn Hills home. To this day, he’s never had a good explanation for where he actually lived when he was a Senator representing Pennsylvania — or how he could have spent even one night in that house without furniture, electricity, food, or other things people expect to find in an occupied house.
I invite you to watch what happens when the agenda-driven media pushes Rick Santorum for answers related to any of this, in particular why he never reimbursed the state of Pennsylvania for the cost of his children’s education when they were all residents of the state of Virginia at the time.
There is a concrete weirdness that’s off-putting to most people when they hear Rick Santorum speak for any length of time. He is a hostile and often times very rude man who is brittle and unable to withstand any sort of public criticism without smacking back in a petty and unprofessional manner. The Pittsburgh local news crews used to love him, because those encounters over his house and the tuition reimbursement made for great TV.
Pennsylvania voters grew to detest this man, however, because nothing he did in relation to his house or his children’s education costs gave anyone much confidence in Santorum’s leadership abilities or capability to do what was right when it might have been inconvenient for him.
Pennsylvanians just didn’t trust Santorum enough to give him another term, which is how Democrats gained that seat in Pennsylvania in 2006 (and were thus able to ram through Obamacare at Christmas in 2009…when, if not for Santorum’s self-destruction, Democrats would have been one vote shy of making Obamacare happen).
The residency issues and tuition reimbursement fraud mattered back in 2006 to Pennsylvania voters…and they will matter again in 2012 to a national audience once the media starts reporting on Santorum’s past now that he is in a national spotlight for the first time in his career.
© 2012, Kevin DuJan. All rights reserved.
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He also has a voting record that puts him in the same league of Dubbya’s compassionate conservative big government solutions. He ain’t all that and a bag of chips.
If dual residency is good enough for Rahm Emanuel….
What is missing from tjis article is the fact that Santorum was GIVEN a house that an Arlington attorney paid $2 million for and gave it to Santorum for free. There is paperwork backing this up. I believe it is in the deeed transfer. When asked what he paid for the house his reply on the for was $0. How do you get a free house worth over a million? The actual valuse of the home homes I $1.3 million, yet this attorney paid $2 million for it. Has Slick Rick ever explained that?
It will – and it does – matter.
Yes — fraud is fraud, regardless of who commits it. The letter behind one's name should not grant leniency, or make it somehow "more okay" than if one had a different letter behind their name.
This is a guy who supports the "right" of states to ban…birth control.
No, really. Not just abortion. This guy has no problem with banning birth control. He's crazy:
http://totalbuzz.ocregister.com/2012/01/03/santor…
I remember hearing about these things on talk radio back when they happened. Thanks for the reminder Kevin. I agree that Santorum largely doesn't stand a chance due to this issue and once the national media starts replaying parts of those old interviews his campaign should come to a quick halt.
Santorum was of modest means when he was first elected a US Senator. Within one year after leaving office he was a millionaire. How does he explain that? Many consultant position can be tracked back to earmarks and legislation he supported by the comanies throwing at Slick Rick
wow ok thanks Kev… Love your opinion and the way you throw things out there. Your unique take on things always gets me thinking. So now we know whats coming with the agenda driven media. My question is now.. Who can beat Obamacare?? I was starting to get a little excited finally after My extreme disappointment with Sarah. That would have been a fight worth buying tickets for. Sarah vs Barack!! So, Santorum wont hold up, well, on to the next.
Is there any Congressperson or Senator who does not have a home address in the State they are elected from? If they no longer have a home State residence, they can't represent their constituents. Can anyone name one politician who doesn't have an in-State home? Santorum is now getting the hatchet job from the DNC, trolls, etc., and it smells of Alinsky. I do know that he was royally steamrolled by the DNC, Soros and the abortion industry. I just looked at the Orange County article Lisette mentioned, and it said that Jack Tapper asked Santorum about a 2006 comment regarding a 1965 ruling by the Supreme Court. It was a ruling saying that Connecticut couldn't ban contraceptives and Santorum said the State should have the right to pass such laws. Tapper asked if Santorum still held that belief and Santorum said he felt States should have that right as contraceptives aren't in the Constitution as a right. My read is a little different from Lisettes take on it…I see his comments as a States Rights issue….not an issue that paints him as a crazy person…bent on banning birth control.
Re: Santorum losing the Casey Santorum election…I always wondered if that was the deal Ed Rendell made when he ran against Casey in the Democratic primary for Governor, the promise of the entire bankroll and support of the DNC…..if Casey would roll over and put his fate in the hands of the Party.
If so, they will be out in droves if Santorum gets the nod.
I can name one! Rick Santorum did not own a home in Pennsylvania for 2 years in Pennsylvania while he was a US Senator. He sold his home in an upscale suburb of Pittsburgh and bought a home in Virginia. He never bothered to buy another home in PA till some 2 years late. He bought a run down 3 bedroom house that sat vacant with no electriicity or furniture diring most of his term. His niece and a member of his wife's lived there for a while and registered to vote using the address Santorum claimed to live at. So there is one example, NO HOME IN PA FOR 2 YEARS. I do noot believe he met the PA residency requirements his whole 12 years in the Senate.
Let's get rid of Obama now, legally, since no-one can be President, unless both his parents are native-born Americans, making Obama a NATURAL-BORN American citizen. His father was a British subject when Obama was born, Our founding fathers wanted a generation of separation of loyalties, Why is he allowed to trample the Constitution? Obama is illegal in the most blatant way. I think you will also discover he didn't BOTHER to LEGALLY change his name back from Barry Sotero to Barack Obama, since at that time, he didn't dream of running for President. Then it was too late to go back, so he bluffed on that one, too. If that's the case, everything he has signed is fraudulent . null and void.
I would have no problem voting for Santorum. Or the other Rick.
I will not do it for Romney. Or Gingrich without coercion.
Well do some research on Slick Rick and look at his shady past free house worth $1.3 million given to him by an Arlington Attorney. That has got to make you think. Who get a gre million dollar home? The attorney actually paid $2 million for the home valued at $1.3 million.
Stacy McCain is the hardest hit….
What happened to Stacy McCain?
He went on the shill for Herman Cain. Now he's doing the same for Santorum.
Some people just have no luck.
There is never anything wrong wit stealing from the state. It's not even self-defense.
I like Santorum. He would honor the constitution unlike the dictator we have now. If we don't get rid of Obama, we are in deep trouble. I get sick just watching the republican candidates as they rise to the top only to be savaged and kicked aside. Looks like Romney is the chosen one but he has almost no support. I saw a frightening scene tonight – Romney with John McCain perched up beside him. Now if that wasn't the most loser looking sight I have seen.
It made me feel like vomiting.
I agree…it seemed like the kiss of death for Romney.
Did you notice that Romney's eyes just keep blinking at the same rate over and over? He has no expression on his face but kind of a smirk. He just oozes insincerity. I'll bet he laughs himself sick at how he lies to put things over on stupid people.
When he spoke, it was how he could take the fire and Gingrich couldn't. He said should be the one who could face the onslaught from Obama. Yet when Bret Baier pressed him on a point of RomneyCare, he had a meltdown.
Rush Limbaugh:
"Newt's not getting out. He's in this to destroy Romney now. Newt may be more motivated to destroy Romney than to even win this. Now, who does that benefit? Santorum, who's gonna be sitting out over there on the other side, you know, doing the Mr. Clean routine. Newt's already got a full-page ad in the Union Leader comparing himself to Romney. And Bachmann's gotten out, and Bachmann was one of Romney's chief agitators for a while. Then she backed off hoping, people theorized, that she might be positioning herself to be picked as the veep. But now it's possible that Romney might have to endure Newt going for the jugular in these debates. There's a Saturday night debate coming up, right? I think there's a debate Saturday night, and Newt is going to be loaded for bear. The gloves are coming off. So Newt will do to Romney, will try to do to Romney what Bachmann did to Pawlenty and to Newt. You know, she was a thorn in Newt's side. She wouldn't let go of it. Newt didn't get mad at her so much, but he got mad at Romney 'cause of the ads. Newt's motivated now." http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/daily/2012/01/04/an_a…
Santorum will not be able to stand up to the scrutiny of his past actions. Plain and simple. The man is corrupt. So he brings his fake Christian dog and pony show hoping no one will really check him out. The Republica candidates are all flawed in one way or another. It will be very hard to beat Obama despite how the econimy is doing. This isn't a wish as much as a reality check. After the truth comes out about Santorum's past you have run out of candidates, unless Huntsman, the most qualified candidate, can get a chance.
Just another snake in the grass…. I smelled the stench of corruption on him all along… As was alluded to in the article, when Santorum speaks, he just puts off this vibe that's, well, serpent like…
Newt has been exposed for the con-man that he is… Newt talks a good game, but his morals have proven to be very flimsy, and his record on the hill further proves his hypocrisy…
Romney does not appeal to the conservative voter, and his record proves his lack of principles and convictions…
Ron Paul is the only candidate that's bullet-proof, he has no skeletons in his closet, if he did, you can bet the establishment would have made them public long ago… It's looking more and more like Ron Paul will be our next president, and that's a very good thing for the people of America…
The sad truth of this is is takes out the Tony Rezko slum lord argument away from the Republicans.
As compared to Willard who takes away Obamacare and Paul who takes away foreign policy sanity.
I'm not defending Rick Santorum's idiocy here in any way, but any of the remaining top three candidates have fairly fatal flaws, It would be nice of Perry got his act back together, since I'd rather deal with the Bush comparisons than some of the other crap.
I would love to see Perry make a comeback.
He is for limited government instead of the "compassionate conservative" or complete anarchy (Luap Nor)
A fiscal conservative that will audit EVERY federal agency and make them fight for every dollar they receive. Because every dollar lost in that beauracracy is a dollar stolen from YOU!
I better be careful, I'm starting to sound like a Perry operative hahaha… but I do urge fellow HillBuzzers to take a second look at Perry…. even if he does dress like he just left Brokeback Mountain, as Kevin so eloquently states!
Perry is also for open borders.
Truth is, if you look around a bit, you can paint an ugly picture of any candidate.
Santorum's residency problem will take him out with lughtening speed. I think Obama is not paying attention to Santorum because he may well be the easiest candidate to beat. If I was Obama the only candidate I would be worried about is Huntsman. But he can not get any traction so that has taken care of itself.
A typical Lib "major" issue — while they ignore the Obamanation's eligibility to sit in the Oval Office…!
Unfortunately with this administration, they have no problem skirting the law. Heck, they just outright break it. With the lack of truthful media coverage on any of this, they WILL NOT be held accoutable in any way. We need a candidate that has a great past record, who is commited, who can and will stand up to this nonsense and who will be able to beat Obama in Nov…..someone who will rally the troops and unite the country. Someone not afraid to take it to the establishment. And protect America's interests not only here but abroad. I hear there is a lady in Alaska with these qualifications. I wonder if she would be interested?
The man that should be a fronrummer is Huntsman. He has exactly what it takkkes to beat Obama.
I don't really think Santorum did anything as bad as the 'waitress sandwich' that Kennedy and Dodd pulled.
I personally kind of like him, he seems straight forward but then I don't know him that well. At this point, even reading the 'dirt' published in this thread I would vote for him. Also the other Rick too, much as he puts his foot in his mouth. I'd even vote for Newt as I kind of like him too. Romney, I'd hold my nose but no way would I vote 3rd party or for that idiot we have in office now.
I'm from Pennsylvania, we sent him packing for a reason.I can't believe he showed up again on the national level. To much baggage…. another ooops
I really don't see a problem with a Senator living in D.C. and wanting to have his family living with him. I think that it was an honest mistake as far as the cyber tuition. If I want to have my children enrolled in a cyber school, our school district has to pay for it because I pay school taxes on my property.
You have to understand that Pittsburgh and Western Pa are heavily blue Democrat. There was a woman who made it her mission to take out Rick Santorum r/t the cyber schooling. And it was such a fuss for a long time. She's had a fall from grace though, and her son was arrested in August 2010 for being involved in a Mafia Style "Family" burglary ring. 17 places were burglarized. He was just convicted this week to 16 to 42 months in prison. 10 years probation. These werent teenagers, they are men in their 20's. That's not exactly family values, is it?
Rick Santorum is as honest as one comes in my opinion.
Do you not undestand Slick Rick developed a methodical plan to avoid to avoind the state residency requirement to be a US Senator. Did you know for 2 years he didn't even own a home in Pennsylvanis? You think this ok? The local school district was on the hook for over $100,000. The school district has huge budget problems. this is by no means an affluent area like his real residnce in Mt. Lebanon PA was. he sold that house and bought a home in Virginia and never ste up even a fake residence in PA. He plain and simple just didn't have one. To be a US Senator from PA you MUST meet the residency rquirement. He broke the law and then covered it up with the ruse of buying a home next to his in laws. For a time he had other relatives living there and registered to vote at that address. When his relatives were not living there it didnt even have lelectricity. It cost the local school district over $100,000 to educate Virginian ciitizens, That means nothing to you?
Amen!
The house in Virginia is in Loudoun County (Shenstone) and the developer of that blight on our rolling hills was Toll Brothers – a Pennsylvania-based company. Maybe that's just a coincidence…but I wonder.
This is not a big deal to me. I don't really love Santorum, but I'd vote for him. Can't stand Romney. CAN'T STAND HIM. I wish we had Palin, second choice, Rick Perry. I don't care if he's not a silver-tongued devil…really, is it all about 'style' in these times? C'mon people, is it really all about 'the crease in his pants'? This is eerily reminiscent of American Idol, not grown up ideals of who has the values and ideals to be the leader of our country.
Why can no one see the only viable candidate in the race is Huntsman?
Hey Republicans who haven't read the Constitution – requirements to be President are "native born" or "foreign born of two citizen parents". Santorum lost in PA because he is typical right-wing liar: do as thay say, but I don't have to. I can't wait for Obama to be reelected provided the real Republican voting fraud doesn't happen again.
"foreign born of two citizen parents". Guess that means Obama should've been automatically disqualified from the get go because his father was a native-born Kenyan and his mother was American. As far as Republican voting fraud is concerned, I remember back in 2000 Al Gore tried pulling off that whole "dimpled chad" debacle. Then there's the Democrats purposely ignoring the military votes not only in 2000 but also in 2004 and 2008. GWB is guily of vote rigging too so I'm pointing both fingersof blame at both sides here.
I think the residency issue is a property tax issue for most communities. So if Santorum keeps paying the property tax, what's wrong with getting the education goodies? It seems odd that PA would not want their congressman to maintain a house in the home state, to come back, as well as what should be a temporary residence in/near DC.
Yes, Santorum opposes gay marriage. Interestingly, GOProud has dropped that issue. Really it's useless. The idea of a social institution of marriage was for the protection of children. At present, for gays marriage presents legal hassles, and fading to zero health insurance advantages. For gays it is more legal hassle than it's worth and when the novelty wears off it will be a little used option. What would be of benefit to gays is inheritance law changes, and HIPAA considerations allowing them to care for their partner adequately.
Santorum opposes abortion. Yes he certainly does.
Santorum personally opposes birth control, but he has voted for bills allowing it because he says it does not end life. http://youtu.be/9MBO9tNNejo
When you hear people saying that Santorum will cut off birth control, this does not square with his words or his voting.
Among birth control methods, the hormonal types have several mechanisms. The mechanism to stop early embryonic life varies with the form being used and the timing of use. Among others, A mechanism to stop implantation of the early human embryo, at the blastocyst stage, is given in the pharmacology section of information for the provider on almost every form of the pill, shot, morning after pill, etc.
Santorum apparently does not have that information, but prospective pill users should be aware of it in order to make an informed choice.
One Question? Your thinking about risking your family's cash & house mortgage to start a business and your partner would be Santorum. Would you put your family at risk with this PARTNER?
THEN, why the HELL would you VOTE for this Crooked Dikk?
If you would…you deserve the HELL that is about to come to you !
Santorum's corruuption is just beginning to come to come out. Did you know he was given a $1.3 million house from an attorney that paid $2 million for the house? No one has every asked how that occured. Obama would like nothing more than to have santorum be the GOP nominee. He may well be the most flawd candidate. Because of his low poll numbers he was never fully vetted. Well he will be. Then you will come to know the real Rick Santorum like pennsylvanians do. He folled PA voters for about 11 years. Plus he spent 4 years on Congresss. he assailed his incumbent opponent for not having a home a the district. Santorum didn't have a home in the STATE for 2 years