Pa. Pays School Costs for Senator's (Rick Santorum's) Kids

[Tab]

PITTSBURGH - A suburban Pittsburgh school district is reviewing whether it should be paying for U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum's children to use its Internet-based school, since the Pennsylvania senator and his family live in Virginia.

The Penn Hills district has spent $100,000 educating the Republican's children since 2001-02, said Erin Vecchio, a school board member who requested the review. She also is head of the local Democratic committee.

"I'm concerned because (he is) taking away from my kid. That $100,000 ... could be going to my kids, a computer or something," said Vecchio, who has three children enrolled in Penn Hills schools.

Santorum's spokeswoman, Christine Shott, said the senator and his wife, who have six children, have divided their time between their Virginia home and the one in Penn Hills since they bought the Pennsylvania home in 1997. Shott wouldn't specify how much time the Santorums have spent in the Penn Hills residence, but said Santorum pays taxes, including school taxes, on the property.
http://www.tallahassee.com/mld/tallahassee/10169219.htm

[Pirate Smile]

1. When is Santorum up for reelection?

[napi21]

4. He's up for re-election in 2006.

I think his chances are totally dependant on what happens in the next year.

[Pirate Smile]

11. This is the kind of story that really piss people off and leave a

lasting impression.

[niyad]

14. if I remember correctly, he is the idiot who said when a woman is raped

she exudes an enzyme that prevents her from getting pregnant. anybody THIS stupid needs a keeper--NOT a position at taxpayer expense

[corporatemedia]

15. Can you get me that quote??

if so it will beat what i though was his stupidest comment to date:

on the john McIntyre show (a local pgh pa liberal tv talk show - now off the air) he explained his opposition to legalizing marijuana while alcohol was legal:

when people smoke pot they do it to get high. when people drink alcohol they do it because they are thirsty

as i was picking my jaw off the floor i was thinking about all the abused women who were so damn glad that their boyfriend/husband at least wouldn't be mad about being thirsty.

[Mandate My Ass]

24. Santorum is an idiot but not that particular idiot

Stephen Freind is the one whose claim to fame is postulating that blatant idiocy.

[corporatemedia]

13. santorum

up for reelection in 2006

my biggest fear is that the christianists will put gay marriage on the ballot that year and bring out the alabama (middle of pa) vote.

this could get him reelected.

just so you don't misunderstand me, my concern is getting rid of santorum. i'm not anti anything except anti-santorum, anti-bush, anti-repug, anti-ignorance....... well i guess i'm anti a few things.

personally i support gay marriage because i don't think gays should be exempt from the misery the rest of us experience.

but from a strategic viewpoint, it would be immensely helpful to his candidacy to have an anti gay marriage amendment on the ballot. it would bring the rednecks out and possibly turn a blue state red.

[niyad]

2. $100,000 for INTERNET education? my ISP is only 14.95/month

boy, wouldn't I love to be THAT internet provider.

[Catherine Vincent]

3. What is the deal with these congressmen and senators?

Don't they make enough money from us taxpayers? This is so wrong.

[napi21]

5. Is this BIG NEWS in the Pgh, papers and TV there?

I've seen this a few times on DU, but the source has always been some out of town paper.

If it's not, you Pittsburghers need to get the only remaining paper and the local tv stations to get it out there!!!

[Tommymac]

7. It's circulating ...we know. But the Mass Hallucinatory Media

is just as bad here as everywhere else.

[RamboLiberal]

8. In Pittsburgh from a story in little Penn Hills paper it's getting legs

I believe the story first appeared 10/20. It got talked about on radio. Then some columns appeared in the Scaife Tribune Review and a columnist - Sally Kelson of the Post Gazette wrote about. TV News and talk radio have picked it up. It's gathering steam here. I'm betting little Ricky will be forced to save face and pay for his kids from now on unless he wants this to be a huge issue in '06.

And I'm betting even if he does this - it will still be an issue.

[napi21]

9. That's great news! I'm glad to hear it.

I lived in Pgh for 45 years, and relocated in 1987, but I can't shake the roots, ya know. I still have several relatives living there, and they al detest Santorum. Even the one couple who are reborn Christians! I found it interesting that they were the ones MOST against the shrub re-election!

I don't know how much support Ricky has in the Philly area, but it sure doesn't seem he has much in Pgh.

[blue neen]

20. This story has been in the Pittsburgh Post Gazette twice this week.

It also was reported on the local evening news, so they are picking it up. The interesting thing to me is that it's in national newspapers!

[Tommymac]

6. His neighbors in Penn Hills

SAY HIS HOUSE IS EMPTY MOST OF THE TIME.

[4MoreYearsOfHell]

10. Amazing - simply amazing

6 kids in a two-bedroom house...

[corporatemedia]

12. SANTORUM UNDER INVESTIGATION

being a newbie i was unable to post these to breaking news but check out my previous postings -

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...
(has links to two pgh tribune/review articles)

and
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...
(has link county website with details of his property - 2 bedrooms for 6 kids and 2 adults - lol)

plus this thread from joy anne
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...
(has link to pgh post-gazette article referencing pa supreme court ruling (in another case) that seems to indicate that ricky should not be getting this money)

i guess ricky isn't straight or gay because he's screwing all the people of penn hills. is ricky bi?

[UpInArms]

17. wow! now that's togetherness!

1218 square feet for six children and 2 adults

http://www2.county.allegheny.pa.us/RealEstate/Building....

http://www2.county.allegheny.pa.us/RealEstate/Image.asp...

Welcome to DU, corporatemedia!



thanks for the links!

[dancing kali]

16. Santorum is from Penn Hills?!

I don't see why this should surprise me. Penn Hills is where I spent my life between the ages of 6 and 17. My experiences in the Penn Hills School District taught me to loathe the place. Graduation day in June of 1974 was my last day in Penn Hills. If it were to fall off the face of the earth I would celebrate... and hope that the few people that I care about who still live there managed to escape beforehand. As far as I'm concerned the place deserves him.

why is it that a school district, or ultimately the taxpayer, pays the tuition of students who are "home schooling" by means of the internet? What tuition do they need? They're at home! They're not butts in seats using up tangible resources. I don't get this. What point am I missing?

While I don't think something like this is enough to bring down Santorum - it would be nice to see him "inconvenienced" and have to pay for his children to use these resources.

[Cheswick2.0]

26. because the Internet school is a private company making big profits

off scaming money from local school districts. This one is likely owned by Bill Bennett and/or Marvin Bush.

[snippy]

18. Santorum is a typical republican welfare queen.

Republicans want all of their government benefits to be free. Someday, somewhere, some republican will have to stand up and admit that government costs money. Good government costs money and bad government costs money. But republicans want it all for free.

[BeatleBoot]

19. I remember watching him on C-Span on the Senate Floor

going to bat for the pharmaceutical companies.

[msanthrope]

21. Spread the word.....

Email for William Bunch, a good local reporter in Philly:
maybe we could ask him to get this into the Philly papers?

[e-mail]

[corporatemedia]

22. santorum CYBERGATE SCANDAL links

Santorum CYBERGATE links


DATE SOURCE AUTHOR NOTES

10/20/04 Penn Hills Progress Vera Miller original source
http://www.gatewaynewspapers.com/pennhillsprogress/3688... /

11/06/04 Pittsburgh Tribune-Review Vera Miller
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/tribune-review/trib/pit...

11/10/04 Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Sally Kalson only P-G story so far? Contains PA supreme ct info
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/04315/409553.stm

11/11/04 Pittsburgh Tribune-Review Frazier & Jewell
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/tribune-review/trib/tri...

11/12/04 Tallahassee Democrat (AP) Jennifer Yates picked up nationally
http://www.tallahassee.com/mld/tallahassee/10169219.htm

N/A Allegheny Property Assessment Web Site official property info
http://www2.county.allegheny.pa.us/RealEstate/General.a...

i've been working on this for the last few days, but being a newbie i can't post new threads so i'm attaching this where i can.

if anyone has new sources, please reply to my post and i will continue to compile the list.

i have contacted the local DFA group in the hopes of organizing a sign campaign. unfortunately, i have no resources but a lot of ideas, including a web site, bumper stickers and...

erecting 4'X 8' signs in high visibility locations in communities around allegheny county saying something like -

SENATOR SANTORUM
DON'T MOVE HERE
WE CAN'T AFFORD YOU

we need to act now. we can't wait two years to start our campaign against santorum. strike while the iron is hot!

if anyone in the pgh area is interested in this please contact me at [e-mail]

[corporatemedia]

27. UPDATED and corrected santorum CYBERGATE SCANDAL links...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...

[EndElectoral]

23. 106,000 home in PA and 757,000 in VA home and Senator is from PA?

[Cheswick2.0]

25. No school should be paying for the education of any child who is not

attending their school. Unless the child is homebound and then the school should provide a homebound teacher and the books and materials any other child has available to them.
This tax payer sponsored homeschooling charter school nonsense is way out of hand. If you want your kids to be educated by a private internet school or a charter school pay for it yourself. You are taking resources from other kids.

Guess who probably owns and profits from this company... One of the bush brothers and Mr Moral outrage himself Bill Bennett.