Santorum says there are no classes in the United States

By: Corbett B. Daly
Topics: Campaign 2012

Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum

(Credit: Elise Amendola)

Former Pennsylvania Sen. says the United States does not have any classes and Republicans should stop using the term "middle class" because it only helps President Obama drive a wedge among the Republicans looking to unseat him.

"The governor [Mitt Romney] used a term earlier that I shrink from, and it's one that I don't think we should be using as Republicans: "Middle class." There are no classes in America, Santorum said Saturday at a Republican presidential debate in New Hampshire sponsored by ABC News/Yahoo!/WMUR-TV.

"We're a country that don't allow for titles. We don't put people in classes. Maybe middle income people. But the idea, somehow or another, that we're going to buy into the class warfare arguments of Barack Obama is something that should not be part of the Republican lexicon," Santorum said.

"That's their job. Divide. Separate. Put one group against another. That's not the language that I'll use as president, I'll use the language of bringing people together," he added.

In September, his campaign reposted a news article from a Pennsylania newspaper touting Santorum's efforts "to rebuild Middle Class."

Corbett B. Daly
Corbett B. Daly is CBSNews.com's deputy politics editor.
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by actornaught January 9, 2012 12:17 PM EST: Middle Class??? Confederate/Southern style feudalism don't need no stinking Middle Class.

Sounds like Ricky is preparing us for The Plan. When the neo-conned get done helping to vote away federal government, Big Business will have free rein to run this country purely to suit their bottom line.

Welcome to the new CSA, the Corporate States of America.; Reply to this comment

by ProgressNow January 9, 2012 11:00 AM EST

True...the GOP Tealiban Tearrorists has almost completely obliterated what was "The Middle Class".

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by Tired_of_liars January 9, 2012 11:21 AM EST: Again this is a LIE and you know it. The only Terrorist I know of is the people like you who can't stop calling people terrorist


by tx-wheels January 8, 2012 6:32 PM EST: Why don't we all be realistic about it. There are only two classes. The rich, and the rest of us period!; Reply to this comment

by tsigili January 8, 2012 2:50 PM EST

That's a really stupid thing to say.

Everyone KNOWS their are clear economic classes in America, and always have been, and while there is opportunity to move within those classes, they certainly exist, and will continue to exist well into the future.

The "founding fathers" were primarily Republicans, who were the educated, wealthy class, that everyone loves to talk about, who set up our constitution and government.

This country has always been run by the wealthy, and it always will be, no matter what political party they belong to.

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by antoniof123 January 9, 2012 9:21 AM EST: Actually the founding fathers were neither Democrats nor Republicans at that time they had no party. The Federalist were closer to England and that party went away.

Jefferson and Madison founded the Democratic-Republicans Jefferson had the conservative Democrats in the south and Madison had the Liberal Republicans in the north (my how things have changed.)

Jackson divided the party and took the conservatives with him then somewhere along the line the conservatives got kicked out and went to here and there and then took over the Republican party.


by slatep January 8, 2012 1:33 PM EST: Sabtorum can use the term mddle income as opposed to middle class all he wants, but he is in total denial that they don't mean the same thing.

Every Republican running for President is so full of it; it's pathetic.

Our government has taken the taxes from the middle class and run the country into a ditch.

Make that an abyss.!

The "middle class taxpayers" have been almost the sole support of the government for years.

The total refusal of Congress to agree to increase taxes on the wealthy, big business etc, practically screams their intent to
keep on stealing money from the middle class to allow the wealthy
and big business to take over completely and return the "middle class" and the poor to the serfdom of the middle ages.

George Bush 2 started taking the US down this path an the current Republicans in office are determined to follow it.

You frequently hear on television today that the American people no longer trust the government.

DUH.!!

Give me one good reason why we should trust them.

For the last 12 years they have betrayed the trust of the American people.

We now have a President who lied his way into office and John Boehner who is hell bent and determined to continue the Bush 2 policies.

Get rid of these bought and paid-for politicians now.

Demand from Congress that they pass legislation making lobbying, groups like PAC, big business etc. ILLEGAL.

Every elected official in the federal government is bought and paid-for by these groups.

Back room deals are being made every day (the biggest of which is the Obama health care plan), including attempts to blackmail (John Boehner) Congress into passing legislation for programs that benefit them; not the American people.

Santorum claims that the country is currently facing a government whose aim is to divide and conquer.

What we are really dealing with is a bunch of politicians who talk out both sides of their mouths and who are determined to hold onto their positions and continuing to drive the US into a third world country.

Our entire government has failed.!

Bi-partisanship has done more harm than good in the last 12 years, and from what we hear from those already in office and those running for office; this is only going to continue.

Demand; NOW! that those in government begin to start acting as UNITED STATES Congressmen and Senators and not two different breeds of dogs fighting over a bone.

Keep in mind; that if it were not for taxpayers; there would bo NO money to pay their salaries and waste time passing non-essential legislation that does not benefit the US and the American people.

We need leaders who are going to solve the current crises (huge debt, no jobs, people losing their homes thanks to crooked banks, etc.) that we as Americans face right here in the US RIGHT NOW.!

Tell me the exact date that the government decided that the US needs to be the chief problem solver for all other countries in the world.

How much sense does it make that the US increases our national debt by borrowing $80 BILLION dollars from China to preserve the government in Greece when our own government is collapsing and the American way of life as we knew it is being destroyed?

The phrase "clean your own closet before you try to clean someone elses" comes to mind.

Demand that Congress and the President solve the problems right here in the good ole USA before they stick their noses in other peoples business.!!

November 2012 is a lot closer than most politicians realize.!!; Reply to this comment


by ariz_1944 January 8, 2012 12:51 PM EST: Just GOOGLE SANTORUM, Great description of him!!!!; Reply to this comment

by expat31 January 8, 2012 10:22 AM EST

RobAla: I disagree. First of all, I'm not sure what you mean by "actual classes" (as opposed to "virtual classes?"). We do have various income levels which we refer to as "classes," but the words are interchangeable and do not imply a fixed, unalterable condition. What we do not have is a caste system that labels an individual from birth and used to prevent him/her from aspiring to a higher level of income or social acceptability. In India, the caste system is slowly being broken down. In the U.S., there is nothing to break down since we have never recognized a caste system (DAR aside). I think it is playing with words when one tries to imply that "class" is the same as "caste."

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by nearl451 January 8, 2012 3:01 PM EST: He doesn't know either. He just made it up. All classifications (i.e. classes) are human definitions and are therefore virtual.

People of some societies have formally defined Castes. Middle class has always been defined as people of middle income. This group of people have been identified as the demand generating driver for our economy since WWII.

Devote Supply-siders ignore that the money in the middle is what drives the demand side of the economy. Hence as the middle class goes; so thesustainable economy collapses. There are lots of oscillations to hide this underlying fact.


by GoUnion86 January 8, 2012 9:42 AM EST: Middle class dismissed!; Reply to this comment

by RobAla January 8, 2012 8:31 AM EST

Santorum is exactly right when he states that we do not have a "class" society in the United States. I don't like it when people use the term either. In the United States we have income levels, not classes. Americans are free to move from one income level to another, based on how much money they are able to earn. We have many millionaires who started out in life from poor income families. We also have those who begin in a wealthy income level, who end up in a poorer income level.

Classes are usually fixed. We do not have a class system in the United States. Dave, the late founder of Wendys, began as an orphan. We truly still live in the land of opportunity, and there are no fixed classes in the United States. When the term class is used, we do two things: 1) We divide and pit one income level of Americans against another (this is wrong), and 2) imply that Americans have no opportunity to move from one income level to another. Santorum is absolutely right.

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by expat31 January 8, 2012 9:14 AM EST: To extend this logic further, we should no longer refer to first class, business class, and coach class air travel. Instead, we should say "Upper level income, business level income, and low level income air travel." That's catchy! Let's get real. Santorum and the other Republican wannabes are desperately snatching at straws. They have no plan of their own for getting out of the mess that their party got us into (other than deregulating everything and further lowering taxes on the very wealthy), and they are pandering to any group that will listen in the hope that someone will vote for them. They are a poor lot and most of them have no class.


by RobAla January 8, 2012 9:27 AM EST: legacyABQ2: I know what is meant by it, but the term "class" implies a fixed situation. It is a tool used by Marxists who want to pit groups against one another in an effort to undermine a society and bring about communism. It is a very divisive term, and we have enough polarization and division in this country as it is. I don't like the term at all. I am a middle income earner, who was a lower income worker as a young adult. We live in a land of opportunity, and we don't have fixed classes of people in the United States. I think the term is damaging to our society by causing division. That's all.


by aheadace January 8, 2012 8:09 AM EST: Ricky i can say you are lower than whale shi! get out of the race you are already lower than every other person on the planet.; Reply to this comment