Chris Stigall Talks With Rick Santorum About His New Book
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – Chris Stigall spoke with former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum on Talk Radio 1210 WPHT about his new book, Blue Collar Conservatives: Recommitting to an America That Works.
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Former Sen. Rick Santorum On His New Book
Santorum says he's been concerned with the fate of the working class for years, and that steps need to be taken to help them back into the workforce.
"In the campaign in 2012, I went out and talked about an agenda for getting people who are being left behind by the current economy -- left behind, frankly I think, by both political parties -- and talking to them about where they are. Seventy-percent of Americans don't have a college degree. A lot of folks have a skills deficit and need training to get the kind of jobs that are necessary to support a family. Then we have to have an opportunity to create those jobs, specifically that blue collar workers can take and thrive at," he said.
He says that if politicians would sincerely attempt to focus on increasing the amount of manufacturing that happens in America, the benefits would be numerous.
"It can only happen if you actually intentionally try to do that and have an agenda. Neither party, frankly, has done a good job on that. Energy is an important part of that, and not just because there are good blue collar jobs in the energy sector -- a lot of them -- but also keeping energy prices down helps average Americans more than it does wealthy Americans, because average Americans pay a much higher percentage of their income on energy than if you're an upper income person. And secondly, it keeps the costs of energy down. Manufacturers are the biggest users of energy, so it helps in competing for manufacturing jobs," Santorum explained.
Santorum also said he feels it's politically dangerous to push back too hard on raising the minimum wage.
"I supported minimum wage increases. I think it's folly for Republicans to make all these arguments against the minimum wage as if we're for eliminating the minimum wage, because that's a loser both economically and politically. What I've said is that the minimum wage increases can't be inflationary and go to really hurt the little guy by driving the cost of labor for lower income workers beyond what the value is to the company," he explained.
