Santorum: Avoid poverty by getting hitched, a high school diploma
>>> we've heard ? republican presidential candidates say a lot of nonsense about the poor, but rick santorum is now saying something especially ridiculous.
>> two thing you can do that statistically will assure you -- what two things -- graduate from high school , get married.
>> are you serious, rick? that's new toss 3.2 million jobless americans who have a high school diploma and 4.1 million married people who are looking for work, too. so much for that theory, rick. but republicans as a whole don't seem to have a clue about the problems facing unemployed and working-class americans.
>> if you don't have a job and you're not rich, blake yourself.
>> they're getting unemployment and they're getting food stamps and they say call me when unemployment runs out. we also have to realize there's a lot of people gaming the system right now.
>> our nation needs to stop doing for people what they can and should do for themselves. self-reliance means if anyone will not work, neither should he eat.
>> joining me now is congresswoman donna edwards , democrat for maryland. thank you for joining me tonight, congresswoman.w[/=?
>> it's good to be with you.
>> i can hardly wait to ask the question. if you went to your district this weekend and said to them i've got a jobs plan for you -- get married and show me your high school diploma , what would be the reaction?
>> the lunacy continues. it's actually shocking. santorum also tried to blame the president for the decline in marriage rates . the reality is that decline started 40 years ago when the president was 10 years old. i don't think you can brame him for the decline in marriage.
>> so is this cynical or no clue, as krugman wrote. it's hard for me to believe that they are this clueless, but also just as hard to believe that someone with a straight face would say this unless they really were clueless. i mean, i'm torn between which one it is.
>> well, i mean, let's look at the reality over they last several months, what we have seen is a republican party that refuses to do anything to work with the president and work with democrats in congress to create jobs to try to improve the economy, so that 235e78s can provide for themselves. the realie is we have republican leadership in the congress and on the -- among the presidential candidates who believes that somehow or other only wealthy people get to pull themselves up by their bootstraps, as though that's a reality, and they don't live the lives we do. they don't go out and buy gas and know how much it costs, go to the grocery store and understand what it takes to put a meal ? on the table for a family. the president asked people to tell him, what does $40 mean to you when the republicans were considering not renews and extending the tax cuts, and i'll bet you those republicans candidates couldn't tell you, but $40 is a lot of money for the american people . some of these folks just don't understand what it means to get up in the morning to go to work to want to go to work and to take care of a family.
>> well, congresswoman, you obviously didn't get the memo. see, if you get bailout money and you take the money and go into your business debt in many ways went under because of your decision, that's called bailout and you're a job creator. if you get assistance because you've been laid out, that's caldwell fare and you're a beg begger, and you didn't get the memo. what i know is voters are experiencing a lot of buyer's remorse and 2012 will be like the day after christmas. the voters will return everything they bought and they'll ask for a refund or say i want something different. that's what will happen in 2012 . these folks simply don't get the reality of people's lives and what it takes to make a living and what it takes to be a real job creator in this country in this economy and work to do that.
>> i like that, the day after christmas 2012 will be like ? that. the only difference is that the stores opened early to handle the volume. they're trying to stop early voting . congresswoman donna edwards , thank you for joining me tonight. a happy new year to you and your family.
