By Penny Starr
February 12, 2012
CNSNews.com) – GOP primary contender Rick Santorum said that “a much higher authority” than the government is the source of the rights enjoyed by the American people.
Santorum, who made his remarks on Friday at the Conservative Political Aciton Conference (CPAC), said the future of the country would depend on who is elected president in 2012.
“Are we going to be a country that believes, as our founders did, that our rights don’t come from the government?” Santorum said at the event in Washington, D.C. “They come from a much higher authority.”
Santorum said some people, including President Barack Obama, “believe that is not the case.”
“They have gone around convincing the American public that they can, in fact, fgive your rights,” Santorum said.
Santorum cited Obama’s health care law as an example of government-given “rights.”
“When government gives you rights, government can coerce you into doing things and exercising the right that they gave you,” Santorum said.
Santorum also said that while the Constitution is the “operator’s manual” for the country, the Declaration of Independence speaks to “who we are” as Americans.
‘’’We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal and endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights,’” Santorum said. “That’s who we are – a country that was built on the idea that rights come to us from God.”
Santorum further said he was the true conservative in the race and characterized rival candidates Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney, who also spoke at CPAC on Friday, as not offering a clear contrast to Obama.
Santorum, who made his remarks on Friday at the Conservative Political Aciton Conference (CPAC), said the future of the country would depend on who is elected president in 2012.
“Are we going to be a country that believes, as our founders did, that our rights don’t come from the government?” Santorum said at the event in Washington, D.C. “They come from a much higher authority.”
Santorum said some people, including President Barack Obama, “believe that is not the case.”
“They have gone around convincing the American public that they can, in fact, fgive your rights,” Santorum said.
Santorum cited Obama’s health care law as an example of government-given “rights.”
“When government gives you rights, government can coerce you into doing things and exercising the right that they gave you,” Santorum said.
Santorum also said that while the Constitution is the “operator’s manual” for the country, the Declaration of Independence speaks to “who we are” as Americans.
‘’’We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal and endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights,’” Santorum said. “That’s who we are – a country that was built on the idea that rights come to us from God.”
Santorum further said he was the true conservative in the race and characterized rival candidates Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney, who also spoke at CPAC on Friday, as not offering a clear contrast to Obama.
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