Yes, he said this in 1994 during the crusade against the welfare queen, and I was too young to say this at the time, but just to let the senator know, I am officially telling him to fuck off on behalf of the sons of single mothers everywhere. In the immortal words of Christopher Hitchens, "It's a pity there isn't a hell for him to go to." I have no idea why my father left our family, or why he didn't want to raise me. That in no way reflects on my mother, it reflects on him. I didn't pick my parents or the circumstances in which I was conceived, and to be honest, as a product of fornication, I'd have to say I don't feel all that evil or cursed and it's the reason I exist. My father didn't fulfill his obligations. My mother and I got over it and moved on.
My mother and I were not on welfare. My mother didn't have heat in the house. She used a kerosene lantern to heat the house and we stayed in one room until she saved enough money to start her a business out of her house. I went to the best private schools my mother could buy. We lived in the best areas with the best schools. She owned three houses, renting out two of them, until the stress of being a single parent and having to handle the burden of raising her boy alone finally took its toll and she became ill. She worked herself to the bone because she wanted to give me everything my father wouldn't. Even when she was ill, I worked 16 hour days on the weekends and paid the rent and the food where my father would not. I went to the best high school in the United States and then went on to one of the best universities in the country, using student loans and Pell grants, which you oppose by the way, to afford it. I have a Master's degree. My mother and I didn't need welfare, but when she collapsed and almost died and we had to use it, I'm glad it was there. I'm glad there were Pell grants, Medicaid, Social Security, and the bureaucratic government funded Veteran's Administration Hospital to care for my mother so she could get several life saving operations that a 17 year old on a McDonald's salary would never be able to afford.
Now just think, Mr. Santorum, what would happen if my mother were not so blessed and had a child that wasn't well mannered, intelligent, and even keeled? What if she had a son that was unruly and had problems in school? What if she had a son that would have left her when she was ill? What if my mother wasn't a psychologist and worked with me to try to work through growing up without a father? I don't bemoan a single mother using food stamps or receiving housing aid. Anything to help take the pressure off of having to work while keeping your child safe and managing your respective lives is welcome. There are plenty of Christians who work with single parents (my uncle for instance) to understand the problem and try to alleviate it, not wag their fingers and tell a mother who has already had a child that she is a huge societal problem and should be scorned on the national stage. I see you waving your finger about the welfare queen, not caring about her children and having strategic pregnancies. Don't get your sweater vest in a ruffle. These people exist. Everyone knows that. Screwing over the vast majority of well meaning people who are in a bad situation just to feel superior when you walk into your church is deplorable. You walk around just like the Pharisees of the book you apparently know and love better than any other human being.
Fuck you, Santorum. Fuck. You.