Santorum Defends 'Big Labor' Voting Record

Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum defended his “big-labor” voting record while a senator in Pennsylvania, as well as his proposed government tax plan, during an interview on “Fox News Sunday.”

When questioned by host Chris Wallace about the pro-union vote, Santorum said, “I believe the state has the right, if they want to have a union-dues requirement, that the state should be able to do that. As a president, I have a very different point of view.”

Santorum said that vote, and the one he made to support the Davis-Bacon Act regulating the salaries of construction workers, were cast out of respect for his constituency.

He said his proposal to eliminate the corporate-tax rate for manufacturers will protect the United States against foreign competition.

“Foreign competition...is making our manufacturing base uncompetitive with the rest of the world,” Santorum said. “We do need to have a different rate of tax to compete against the Chinas and the Mexicos.”

Addressing his proposal to triple the tax credit for American children, Santorum said the incentive will buoy families and relieve their financial burdens.

“The federal government…has, year by year by year, decreased support for families, and guess what’s happening?” Santorum asked. “Year by year by year, birth rates are going down.

“Children are the greatest resource we have,” he said. “If it wasn’t for immigration, our population would be declining.”

He said his plan “is not social engineering.”