1.05.2012

Santorum's ruling-class sellout problem

You know about this blog's long-held disdain for Rick Santorum's religious nuttiness.

But I've never had a reason to question his blue-collar, humble origins shtick until now.
Like Gingrich before him, he got rich selling his Washington connections after leaving Congress.
Since his 2006 re-election defeat, the former Pennsylvania lawmaker has gone from being one of the poorer members of the U.S. Senate to earning $1.3 million between January 2010 and August 2011. In 2007, he spent $2 million to buy a 5,000-square foot home in Great Falls, Virginia, according to property records.

Santorum’s financial rise was powered by consulting contracts with fuel producer Consol Energy Inc., faith advocacy group Clapham Group and American Continental Group, a Washington consultancy, as well as media engagements.

“If he’s claiming he’s not an insider, this is the thing that insiders do -- after public office they cash in,” said Kent Cooper, a campaign finance expert and former Federal Elections Commission assistant staff director.

Outside of his employment contracts, Santorum’s greatest financial gain came from $395,414 in director fees and stock options he listed in a recent financial disclosure.

The fees and options came from King of Prussia-based Universal Health Services Inc. (UHS), a publicly traded health-care management company that was sued in 2010 by the federal government for alleged Medicaid fraud.

HT: JF.
I should note that veteran newsman The Lazy Paperboy had this side of Santorum covered before the Bloomberg story.

1 comment:

SarahB said...

The sooner he gets washed out the better. Just the weak chin alone should disqualify his corrupt ass.

Happy Super Tuesday!