Mitt Romney is now explicitly arguing that Rick Santorum is not a fiscal conservative. CNN writes, “Mitt Romney unleashed his harshest public attacks to date on his surging rival, Rick Santorum, during a rally in Boise Friday. The former Massachusetts governor told an audience of more than one thousand people that Santorum was not a fiscal conservative, and accused him of contributing to the rising federal deficit during his time in the Senate.” CNN reports that Romney said, “If you want a fiscal conservative you can’t vote for Rick Santorum, ’cause he’s not.”
As was detailed last week, the National Taxpayers Union (NTU) would seemingly beg to differ. During a majority of Santorum’s 12 years in the Senate, NTU gave the Pennsylvania senator an A grade along with its “Taxpayers’ Friend Award,” given to “the strongest supporters of responsible tax and spending policies.” Across those dozen years, NTU never once gave Santorum less than a B, or “good,” rating. Of the 50 senators who served throughout Santorum’s tenure, NTU ranked Santorum 5th.
