It Takes a Family: Conservatism and the Common Good, by Rick Santorum


(Click for Amazon book review)

BOOK REVIEW by OnTheIssues.org:

This book is a response to Sen. Hillary Clinton's book It Takes A Village. Hillary's book is the liberal perspective on family values; this book is the conservative response. In Sen. Santorum's view, the phrase "It Takes A Village" really means big government (p.101). Santorum derisively describes the "village elders" who make the decisions in Hillary's "village" as liberals who want control of society. In contrast, conservatives focus on the traditional mother-father-children family unit, explicitly excluding same-sex marriage, of course, and apologetically excluding one-parent families.

Sen. Santorum provides an analysis of "moral capital" as lacking in current society, analogous to "social capital", which means society's institutions. In Santorum's view, de-emphasizing the family has caused the loss of moral capital, and hence decreases the morality of society in general. He also analyzes "intellectual capital" in his extensive education policy sections. Santorum's bigger-picture analysis, beyond family issues, is summarized by: "You can tell whether someone is a conservative or a liberal after only one question: Do you think the Sixties were good for America?" Santorum prefers the family values of the Fifties.

Santorum describes further why he wrote this book (p. 4), in addition to the response to Hillary's book:

Sen. Santorum is now running for President, but wasn't when he wrote this book in 2005, At that time, he was running for re-election in the Senate -- a race he lost to conservative Democrat Bob Casey. Santorum has not written a new book yet for the 2012 race, so this book has to serve as his policy outline for the presidential contest.

-- Jesse Gordon, editor-in-chief, OnTheIssues.org, August 2011

OnTheIssues.org excerpts:  (click on issues for details)

Abortion     Rick Santorum: FactCheck: No, female suicide & crime not worse under Roe.     Barbara Boxer: Baby is born at birth, not at partial-birth.     Hillary Clinton: Partial birth exceptions for life-threatening abnormalities.     Rick Santorum: Scientifically, an embryo is human from moment of conception.     Rick Santorum: 93% of abortions are post-conception birth control.     Rick Santorum: Partial birth abortion allows killing baby if only toe is in.     Rick Santorum: Partial birth abortion is not used only for abnormalities.

Civil Rights     Rick Santorum: Same-sex marriage is unprecedented social revolution.     Rick Santorum: Marriage Protection Amendment is last resort, but needed.     Rick Santorum: Affirmative program for minority business-building.

Crime     Rick Santorum: Broken homes increase delinquency, crime, and jail.     Rick Santorum: Allow felons to vote again after 5 years crime-free.     Rick Santorum: Support Prison Fellowship InnerChange Freedom Initiative.

Drugs     Rick Santorum: Kids living with married parents less likely to use drugs.

Education     Bill Clinton: 1990s: Campaign for school uniforms.     Rick Santorum: Comprehensive sex ed has no impact on pregnancy or STD rates.     Rick Santorum: One-time $500 contribution to every low-income child.     Rick Santorum: 1990s: School uniforms happen to be a good idea.     Rick Santorum: Family, religion, and schools: most fundamental institutions.     Rick Santorum: Rich people already have school choice; give it to the poor.     Rick Santorum: Home-schooled six children with wife Karen.     Rick Santorum: Multiculturalism insists we teach about comic books.

Environment     Rick Santorum: Nature is a subtle web of intricate connections.

Families & Children     Hillary Clinton: OpEd: "It Takes A Village" really means big government.     Rick Santorum: No-Fault Freedom: doing whatever we want damages society.     Rick Santorum: Shotgun marriage wasn't all that bad in some cases.     Rick Santorum: Pre-marital cohabitation makes 50% more chance of divorce.     Rick Santorum: Covenant Marriage: do whatever it takes to keep together.     Rick Santorum: Automatically awarding custody to moms celebrates sexism.

Health Care     Rick Santorum: Sex outside of monogamy has consequences of STDs & abortion.

Principles & Values     Rick Santorum: Liberalism is an ideology; conservatism is common sense.     Rick Santorum: Church-state "neutrality" is not in US Constitution.

Social Security     Jon Corzine: ASPIRE: America Saves for Personal Investment & Retirement.     Joseph Lieberman: IDAs: 401(k)s for low-income individuals.

Tax Reform     Rick Santorum: More child credit for larger families earning over $110,000.     Ronald Reagan: OpEd: Common sense conservatives support supply-side.

Technology     Carol Moseley-Braun: Fund reverse-commuting for distressed suburbs.     Hillary Clinton: $90M grant for Children and Media Research.     Joseph Lieberman: $90M grant for Children and Media Research.     Rick Santorum: $90M to study effects of media violence on kids.     Rick Santorum: Fund reverse-commuting for distressed suburbs.     Rick Santorum: Good culture tells the truth, even if not G-Rated.     Rick Santorum: Make "airplane" edited movie versions with advisory labels.     Sam Brownback: $90M grant for Children and Media Research.

Welfare & Poverty     Rick Santorum: Great Society barely budged poverty but fractured families.     Rick Santorum: One Percent Solution: increase charitable giving to 2.5%.     Rick Santorum: AmeriCorps "volunteers" do build social capital.     Rick Santorum: Discriminatory to NOT give money to faith-based groups.     Rick Santorum: Support time-limits for able-bodied welfare recipients.     Rick Santorum: Promotes Individual Development Accounts set up by churches.     Rick Santorum: Black entrepreneurship vanished with liberal welfare policy.     Ted Kennedy: Welfare reform bill commits legislative child abuse.

Click for quotations from other sources by: Barbara Boxer Bill Clinton Carol Moseley-Braun Hillary Clinton Jon Corzine Joseph Lieberman Rick Santorum Ronald Reagan Sam Brownback Ted Kennedy

The above quotations are from It Takes a Family: Conservatism and the Common Good, by Rick Santorum.

Autobiographies for 2012 GOP primary candidates: No Apology, by Gov. Mitt Romney, Mar 2, 2010 Real Change, by Speaker Newt Gingrich, Dec 18, 2007 Biographies: CEO of SELF, by Herman Cain, 2001 Joe Biden: A Life of Trial and Redemption, by Jules Witcover, 2010 Rick Santorum: A Senator Speaks Out on Life, Freedom, and Responsibility, 2005 Michele Bachmann: Why She Will Win, by Ron Paul Jones, 2011 A Mormon in the White House? 10 Things Every American Should Know about Mitt Romney, by Hugh Hewitt Mitt Romney: The Man, His Values and His Vision, by Lisa Ray Turner and Kimberly Field Deliver Us from Evil, by Sean Hannity

Policy books: Confidence Men, by Ron Suskind, 2011 Core of Conviction, by Rep. Michele Bachmann, 2011 It Takes a Family, by Sen. Rick Santorum, 2005 On My Honor, by Gov. Rick Perry, 2008 End The Fed, by Rep. Ron Paul, Sep 16, 2009 Gold, Peace, and Prosperity: The Birth of a New Currency, by Ron Paul, 2007 My Journey to the White House, by Herman Cain, 2011

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