Rick Santorum To Announce Run For President In 2016

Santorum To Announce Presidential Run. On May 27, former senator Rick Santorum (R-PA) will announce a second run for president in 2016. [The New York Times, 5/27/15]

Media Report On Santorum's Efforts To Brand Self As “Champion Of The Working Class”

Fox's Cameron: Santorum Argues GOP Should Be More “Sensitive” To Blue Collar Americans. Fox News correspondent Carl Cameron noted that Santorum “argues that the Republican Party needs to be much more sensitive to the middle class and the hardworking American blue collar voter, who many argue are getting lost in a big wage gap as the rich get richer and the poor and the middle class get left behind.” [Fox News, Happening Now, 5/27/15]

NYT: Santorum Urges GOP To “Remake Itself As A Champion Of The Working Class, Not The Investor Class.” The New York Times described Santorum's 2016 strategy as partly “urging his party not to cede the issue of wage stagnation to Democrats, and to remake itself as a champion of the working class, not the investor class.” [The New York Times, 5/27/15]

WSJ: Santorum “Seeks To Appeal As A Champion Of The Working Class.” The Wall Street Journal reported that Santorum will attempt “to bolster his reputation as a social-issues warrior with an appeal as a champion of the working class” including “outreach to lower-income Americans.” [The Wall Street Journal, 5/27/15]

But Santorum's Past Economic Policies Included Massive Tax Cuts For The Wealthy And Corporations

NYT: Santorum Proposal Would “Cut The Corporate Tax Rate In Half” And Eliminate Estate Tax. As the New York Times reported in 2012, the tax plan that Santorum proposed during that year's election would cut the corporate tax rate and capital gains tax rates:

He would cut capital gains and dividend tax rates to 12 percent, from 15 percent, and triple the personal deduction for each child. He would repeal the alternative minimum tax. He would cut the corporate tax rate in half, increase the research and development tax credit and set the rate at zero for manufacturers. He would eliminate the estate tax, or the “death tax” in his lexicon. He would eliminate “marriage tax penalties throughout the federal tax code.”

The Times also concluded that Santorum's plan would hurt single mothers especially. [The New York Times, 3/1/12]

Tax Policy Center: Top One Percent Of Earners Would Receive Average Of Over $347,000 In Tax Cuts. In 2012, the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center determined that under Santorum's plan, the top one percent of earners would receive an average of over $347,000 in tax cuts in 2015, while the middle quintile would only receive an average of $2,831 in tax cuts. [Tax Policy Center, accessed 5/27/15]

CNN Money: "Under The Santorum Plan, The Richer You Are, The More You Save." In a 2012 article, CNN's Money blog pointed out that the top income earners would benefit enormously under Santorum's proposed plan:

Under the Santorum plan, the richer you are, the more you save. Taxpayers in the lowest 20% of earners would receive an average tax cut of $255, a tax rate reduction of 0.3%.

Meanwhile, individuals in the top 20% of earners would get a tax cut averaging more than $29,000, a rate reduction of almost 10%.

And the 1%? They'd get an average cut of $263,000, or 13.6% [CNN Money, 1/18/12]