Post-Gazette Editorial – 9/29/06

This page was last updated on September 30, 2006.

Home alone / Santorum gives up an unmerited exemption; Editorial; Pittsburgh Post-Gazette; September 29, 2006.

I expect political opponents to act like children, but until the past few years – when I began fact-checking opinion pieces – I expected more from a self-proclaimed “One of America’s Great Newspapers.” This is now and always has been a bogus issue.

I’ve dealt with issue previously in my own words in previous editorial and letter critiques so I won’t repeat myself here. Instead, I include the responses from the Santorum campaign website.

Below is a detailed critique of the subject editorial.

“Sen. Rick Santorum must rue the day he decided to out-source himself to the Washington, D.C., area in order to do Pennsylvania’s business. The residency issue is one that refuses to go away -- and for good reason.”

[RWC] According to the Santorum campaign, “When Senator Santorum was elected to the U.S. Senate, he made a pledge to visit all of Pennsylvania’s 67 counties each year. Pennsylvania is geographically-large and politically-diverse, and Rick Santorum has met that pledge every year for the twelve years he has served in the U.S. Senate, staying in close touch with every corner of the state. He is the first Senator in Pennsylvania’s history to make and honor this pledge. Often times, Senator Santorum makes multiple visits to each county; he’s been to Philadelphia 243 times, traveled around Allegheny County to over 300 events, and visited the Harrisburg area 142 times, just to cite a few examples.

“When Rick Santorum served in the U.S. House of Representatives, his family lived in Pittsburgh and occasionally traveled with him to Washington, DC. This worked well in the House, which is in voting session Tuesday afternoon through Thursday afternoon about 30-35 weeks a year. But the Senate is very different. Typically, the Senate is in voting session from Monday afternoon to late Thursday night or Friday morning 35-40 weeks a year. Given that schedule, and at the time having three very young children, the Santorums decided it was best for their family to live in Washington, DC those 35-40 weeks out of the year. Since DC is close to Pennsylvania, even when the Senate is in session, Rick always spends Mondays and frequently Fridays and Saturdays in the state on official business.

“So, Rick and his wife Karen, maintain two homes -- one in Penn Hills and one outside of Washington, DC. Many United States Senators choose to have two homes, and this has allowed Senator Santorum’s family to be with him while he carries out his responsibilities in the U.S. Capitol. The Santorums pay income and property taxes in Pennsylvania, their driver’s licenses and vehicles are registered in Pennsylvania and they have submitted home schooling portfolios for their children to the Penn Hills School District since 1997. Furthermore, they both vote in Penn Hills, and they recently served jury duty in Allegheny County.

“Families across Pennsylvania and the nation struggle to find the right balance between professional obligations and family responsibilities. Because Senator Santorum is deeply committed to his family and equally dedicated to representing Pennsylvania in the United States Senate, he believes that this allows him to be both an effective legislator and a good father.”

“The latest example is small in dollars but large in significance. In an attempt to put an end to a controversy about his residence in Virginia, Sen. Santorum has sent a letter to Allegheny County property assessment officials formally requesting that they remove the homestead exemption on the house he owns in Penn Hills.

“The exemption excludes $15,000 from the assessed market value of an owner-occupied primary residence -- which entitles an Allegheny County homeowner to a tax break of about $70 a year. The senator says he previously had made similar requests verbally. The letter was sent as Allegheny County Council prepared to strengthen oversight of property owners claiming homestead exemptions (and the ordinance passed 14-1 Tuesday night).

“That Sen. Santorum should turn down the exemption is, of course, the right thing to do. Unfortunately, this is not a case of the senator leveling with his constituents. His letter insists that he is entitled to the exemption but he chooses not to take it because of the political furor.

“‘My home in Penn Hills is my only residence in Pennsylvania and it has always been my primary residence or domicile,’ he says. That would be news to the neighbors in Penn Hills or, for that matter, those in Virginia where he has settled. After all, where he lives is not in serious dispute. Indeed, the famous campaign ad featuring his children opens with one of his sons innocently confirming the obvious: ‘My dad’s opponents have criticized him for moving us to Washington so we can be with him more.’

“Regular Pennsylvanians can only marvel at how the commonsensical meaning of primary residence or domicile is mocked here, but it isn’t about plain meaning and all about maintaining a legal fiction. Sen. Santorum is pulling a Bill Clinton, who once parsed the meaning of ‘is’ -- only the senator strains the definition of what a primary residence is. Surely it is something more than a place of occasional visits when the Senate is not in session.

“At least the taxpayers weren’t in danger of being soaked for much -- unlike the other controversy involving his residency, the tuition that the Penn Hills School District was paying to educate his children in a cyber program while the family was living out of state. Sen. Santorum withdrew the children after protests, but the state -- read the Pennsylvania taxpayers -- got stuck with a bill of $55,000 for the tuition.”

[RWC] According to the Santorum campaign, “Rick and Karen Santorum have two homes, one in Penn Hills, PA and one near Washington, DC, which allows Senator Santorum to see his children each day while the Senate is in session. Because the Santorum children often travel with Rick when he’s in Pennsylvania, it is difficult for them to attend traditional school. Rick and Karen have looked for alternative ways to educate their children, including home school. They also discovered the option of the Pennsylvania Cyber Charter School, a program available to Penn Hills residents.

“The Pennsylvania Cyber Charter School was especially important, because it provided the kids with important local and Pennsylvania related education opportunities. For four years, the Santorums applied and were approved for this program by their hometown school district. It wasn’t until the head of the local Democratic Party chose to make this an issue for her own political gain, that the Santorum’s enrollment in the cyber school became an issue.

“Once Rick and Karen realized that their children were being used as a political football, they immediately withdrew them from the school. Despite this, Rick continues to believe that parents should have the flexibility to decide what education opportunities work best for their children, and he is pleased that the number of Pennsylvania students taking advantage of charter/cyber schools continues to increase.”

“By comparison, $70 is a trifle, but hypocrisy is not. When he was just starting out in politics, Mr. Santorum successfully pilloried then-U.S. Rep. Doug Walgren for living in Washington, D.C. Why would he think Pennsylvanians have such short memories?”

[RWC] According to the Santorum campaign, “the situations are different. In 1990, Rick Santorum challenged Doug Walgren for being disconnected from his constituents because as a Representative of one Congressional district, you have a responsibility to be near those you represent and be focused on their concerns. When Senator Santorum was elected to Congress, representing one district, his family lived in that district, just as he said he would.

“Further, the situations are different because Walgren didn’t even own property in the district that he represented.

“But when Senator Santorum was elected to the Senate, his family got bigger, and so did the area that Senator Santorum represented -- the entire state of Pennsylvania, not just one district. So Rick and Karen Santorum had to consider the best living arrangement for their family. The business of the Senate, which is in session 35-40 weeks a year, often takes members early in the morning and late into the evening, requiring Rick to spend much of his time in Washington, DC, representing the people of Pennsylvania. And, when Rick was elected to the Senate, he made a promise to visit each of Pennsylvania’s 67 counties every year -- a pledge he has fulfilled for the last eleven and a half years.”