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The Lead editorial in Friday's Post Gazette... SLAM.
The Penn Hills School District asked Sen. Rick Santorum a $38,000 question. That is whether his children are residents of the municipality to the point that their educations should be paid for by Penn Hills taxpayers.
On Wednesday he gave his answer and it was no.
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All of which begs a much bigger question: Is Rick Santorum R-Pa. or R-Va.? No one should represent Pennsylvania in the U.S. Senate because he once lived here or because he visits all 67 counties every year. A traveling salesman can do that.
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It gets worse. The two-bedroom house that the Santorum children called home for education purposes and that gives Mr. and Mrs. Santorum the right to vote in Pennsylvania lacks an occupancy permit. And the property tax break from the homestead exemption claimed by the Santorums on the Penn Hills house is allowed under law only if the dwelling is their "permanent home."
It's a strange case of political turnabout. In his initial House race against Rep. Doug Walgren in 1990, challenger Santorum attacked the incumbent from Mt. Lebanon for buying a house and raising his children in McLean, Va. Now Rick Santorum of Leesburg, Va., is saying that he is and he isn't a resident of Pennsylvania.
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By rights, the Santorums should pay back to Penn Hills the cost of the education provided by local taxpayers for their out-of-state children. What's more, the senator has to prove to the people of Pennsylvania that he is one of them, not just a visitor from the state of Virginia.
I love his quote -stolen from the pResident - that he "works very, very hard" for the state of PA. Deception must be difficult.