MESA, Ariz. — Rivals heaped criticism on surprise front-runner Rick Santorum in a debate among U.S. Republican presidential candidates on Wednesday, hoping to stall his surge at a pivotal period in the 2012 campaign.
Mitt Romney and libertarian congressman Ron Paul tried to raise doubts about Santorum and questioned his fiscal conservative credentials based on his time in the U.S. Congress when he was an easy backer of government spending projects deemed wasteful by critics.
Paul, asked by CNN moderator John King why he had launched a campaign ad that labelled Santorum a "fake," responded: "Because he's a fake."
Romney, scrambling to make up for a deficit in the polls to Santorum, put the former U.S. senator from Pennsylvania on the defensive for backing a much-derided $400 million "bridge to nowhere" project in Alaska that was eventually abandoned.
Santorum fired back that Romney, as chief organizer of the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, had sought similar government spending items known as "earmarks" and often deemed wasteful spending.
"When I was fighting for the Olympics, you were fighting for the 'bridge to nowhere,"' Romney told Santorum.
"You don't know what you're talking about," Santorum snapped back. He insisted that earmarks do enjoy public scrutiny and can be useful, although there has been a move among congressional Republicans to ban them.
Santorum needs to build on his momentum going into the Arizona and Michigan primaries on Feb. 28 and pave the way for Super Tuesday on March 6.
Santorum and Romney are in a close race in Michigan, according to opinion polls, with most recent surveys showing the two divided by four percentage points or fewer. A victory in Michigan is critical for Romney as he needs to prove he can win in the state where he was born.
An NBC/Marist poll on Wednesday had Romney at 37 per cent to Santorum at 35 per cent among likely primary voters in Michigan, a statistical dead heat.
The poll gave Romney a lead of 42 per cent to 27 per cent over Santorum in Arizona. A Time/CNN poll on Tuesday found Romney ahead by 36 per cent to 32 per cent there.
A Quinnipiac University poll also released on Wednesday showed Santorum up nine percentage points nationally against his Republican rivals, at 35 per cent compared to 26 per cent for Romney. It showed Gingrich with 14 per cent and Paul with 11 per cent.
Liberty PD Nabs Burglar
The Liberty Police Department has taken a Hurricane Katrina evacuee, arrested and charged with theft elsewhere on Feb. 13, into custody and charged him in connection with driving the getaway van in a Feb. 20 burglary of the Brookshire Brothers grocery store located at 2325 N. Main St. in Liberty. Meanwhile investigators have been following leads left in the van in the search for three other alleged burglars who fled the vehicle.
Ronald Wayne Harvey, 35, had been uncooperative, as of deadline, in helping investigators to identify and to locate the other three suspects who fled the vehicle that he was driving on Highway 90 near Crosby, where Harris County Sheriff’s Department deputies set up devices that snagged a tire and stopped the vehicle, according to Liberty Police Department Lt. Chip Fairchild. Harvey, held at Liberty County Jail, has been charged with burglary of a building and felony evading arrest or detention with a vehicle. Police have recovered 20 cartons of cigarettes and clothing.
The Liberty Police Department received a call from store security at about 2 a.m. Security noticed that three subjects — their heads, faces and hands covered — had broken into the store. They had tried unsuccessfully to enter the pharmacy.
“What [security] reported to us was that they had surveillance going on of people in the store at that time,” Fairchild said. “Officers responded; we had a less than two-minute response time. Upon getting to the store, three individuals were coming out of the store, jumping into a silver-colored van. As the officer approached the van, the subjects fled.”
Deputies were ready for them.
“They crossed FM 2100 on Highway 90 where Harris County had set up spikes in the roadway,” Fairchild said. “One of the tires was punctured. They exited at the first exit on Highway 90 at the San Jacinto River bridge. At that point, three subjects exited the vehicle. One subject, the driver of the vehicle, was apprehended when the vehicle stopped. The three subjects that fled were actually the three that had been in the store.”
Deputies and officers have continued to pursue the trio, which, according to the lieutenant apparently had been a “part of a group that has been burglarizing stores all over this part of Texas,” based on previous similar arrests.
Courtesy HCN Cleveland
Ronald Wayne Harvey, 35, had been uncooperative, as of deadline, in helping investigators to identify and to locate the other three suspects who fled the vehicle that he was driving on Highway 90 near Crosby, where Harris County Sheriff’s Department deputies set up devices that snagged a tire and stopped the vehicle, according to Liberty Police Department Lt. Chip Fairchild. Harvey, held at Liberty County Jail, has been charged with burglary of a building and felony evading arrest or detention with a vehicle. Police have recovered 20 cartons of cigarettes and clothing.
The Liberty Police Department received a call from store security at about 2 a.m. Security noticed that three subjects — their heads, faces and hands covered — had broken into the store. They had tried unsuccessfully to enter the pharmacy.
“What [security] reported to us was that they had surveillance going on of people in the store at that time,” Fairchild said. “Officers responded; we had a less than two-minute response time. Upon getting to the store, three individuals were coming out of the store, jumping into a silver-colored van. As the officer approached the van, the subjects fled.”
Deputies were ready for them.
“They crossed FM 2100 on Highway 90 where Harris County had set up spikes in the roadway,” Fairchild said. “One of the tires was punctured. They exited at the first exit on Highway 90 at the San Jacinto River bridge. At that point, three subjects exited the vehicle. One subject, the driver of the vehicle, was apprehended when the vehicle stopped. The three subjects that fled were actually the three that had been in the store.”
Deputies and officers have continued to pursue the trio, which, according to the lieutenant apparently had been a “part of a group that has been burglarizing stores all over this part of Texas,” based on previous similar arrests.
Courtesy HCN Cleveland
BOBBY RADER SAYS THE SHERIFF’S DEPARTMENT CAN DO BETTER
The first forum of the political primaries was conducted recently and candidate for sheriff Bobby Rader was there to make his case to the voters how a vote for him would be a vote to improve Liberty County’s sheriff department .
Bobby Rader moved to Liberty as a Texas Department of Public Safety Officer and worked in that position for seven years. He then went into business for himself in the field of insurance. He ran for office in 1998 as a Republican and has served as a judge of the Justice of the Peace precinct #1 for 13 years.
Rader told the audience he has more civil and criminal experience than his opponents combined. He also said as a business man he has been successful managing people and budgets and he believes he can use that experience to help the morale problem and the high turnover rate in the department.
“Unless they are trained to the best of their ability, morale goes down,” he said.
Pointing again to the problems deputies have because the sheriff has not exposed them to needed training, Rader wade in with his perspective as a judge, “A lot of cases are dismissed because we either didn’t have the evidence or we didn’t do it right.”
Rader said that his first priority would be to work with local law enforcement agencies. He claimed that the sheriff’s office has no relationships with local city police departments and that the sheriff’s office does not participate in their monthly meetings. Rader said that he wants to improve the communications between the county and the local agencies.
Judge Rader also pointed out that the county needs to catch up on serving warrants. Liberty county currently has over 6,000 open warrants.
Bobby Rader moved to Liberty as a Texas Department of Public Safety Officer and worked in that position for seven years. He then went into business for himself in the field of insurance. He ran for office in 1998 as a Republican and has served as a judge of the Justice of the Peace precinct #1 for 13 years.
Rader told the audience he has more civil and criminal experience than his opponents combined. He also said as a business man he has been successful managing people and budgets and he believes he can use that experience to help the morale problem and the high turnover rate in the department.
“Unless they are trained to the best of their ability, morale goes down,” he said.
Pointing again to the problems deputies have because the sheriff has not exposed them to needed training, Rader wade in with his perspective as a judge, “A lot of cases are dismissed because we either didn’t have the evidence or we didn’t do it right.”
Rader said that his first priority would be to work with local law enforcement agencies. He claimed that the sheriff’s office has no relationships with local city police departments and that the sheriff’s office does not participate in their monthly meetings. Rader said that he wants to improve the communications between the county and the local agencies.
Judge Rader also pointed out that the county needs to catch up on serving warrants. Liberty county currently has over 6,000 open warrants.
PATTERSON WANTS FOUR MORE YEARS AS SHERIFF
The first forum of the political primaries was conducted recently and incumbent sheriff Henry Patterson was there to make his case to the voters to give him four more years.
In the forum, Patterson explained he has 33 years at the Cleveland Police Department. He said that he started at the bottom and rose up from a Cleveland patrolman to assistant chief. As assistant chief of the Cleveland Police Department Patterson decided more of the focus of the Liberty County Sheriff’s Department needed to be on helping fight crime in the Cleveland area. With that in mind, Patterson ran and lost in the 2004 Democratic primary. With four more years experience in the Cleveland Police Department, Patterson decided to run again in 2008.
“I decided to run four years ago to improve on equal law enforcement throughout the county,” said Patterson. “It was selective and lacking on the north end.”
Patterson has now served as the Liberty county sheriff for 38 months. When each candidate was asked to identify their goals for the department for the next four years, Patterson said, “I’d like to continue the route we are on now”.
When challenged that the “route we are on now” is not all it has been cracked up to be, Patterson pointed to case clearance rates for his department. Patterson noted that the percentage of cleared cases in 2009 - 2011 were 34%, 40%, and 37% respectfully. When Patterson pointed out that those clearance numbers are calculated by the state and signed off on by Rick Perry, it was pointed out that the actual raw data comes from Henry Patterson and the LCSO. There are ways to improve a rating without actually solving a crime. Cases can be cleared by being dismissed or when people die.
When Patterson was challenged again on his decision to not utilize training opportunities for his deputies, he again refuted the charge. He claims his deputies were not under trained. He said that more than 50 percent of deputies have intermediate or advanced certifications in law enforcement. Patterson never addressed why the sheriff’s department, under his leadership no longer attends joint meetings and training with other law enforcement agencies.
"The one thing you have got out of me in the last three years is the best I have to offer,” said Patterson. “Our numbers are factual. We are working hard and arresting a lot of people. There are things we have no control over. If you want things the way they are, in control, I’m the person for the job.”
For more of the story see the Cleveland Advocate.
In the forum, Patterson explained he has 33 years at the Cleveland Police Department. He said that he started at the bottom and rose up from a Cleveland patrolman to assistant chief. As assistant chief of the Cleveland Police Department Patterson decided more of the focus of the Liberty County Sheriff’s Department needed to be on helping fight crime in the Cleveland area. With that in mind, Patterson ran and lost in the 2004 Democratic primary. With four more years experience in the Cleveland Police Department, Patterson decided to run again in 2008.
“I decided to run four years ago to improve on equal law enforcement throughout the county,” said Patterson. “It was selective and lacking on the north end.”
Patterson has now served as the Liberty county sheriff for 38 months. When each candidate was asked to identify their goals for the department for the next four years, Patterson said, “I’d like to continue the route we are on now”.
When challenged that the “route we are on now” is not all it has been cracked up to be, Patterson pointed to case clearance rates for his department. Patterson noted that the percentage of cleared cases in 2009 - 2011 were 34%, 40%, and 37% respectfully. When Patterson pointed out that those clearance numbers are calculated by the state and signed off on by Rick Perry, it was pointed out that the actual raw data comes from Henry Patterson and the LCSO. There are ways to improve a rating without actually solving a crime. Cases can be cleared by being dismissed or when people die.
When Patterson was challenged again on his decision to not utilize training opportunities for his deputies, he again refuted the charge. He claims his deputies were not under trained. He said that more than 50 percent of deputies have intermediate or advanced certifications in law enforcement. Patterson never addressed why the sheriff’s department, under his leadership no longer attends joint meetings and training with other law enforcement agencies.
"The one thing you have got out of me in the last three years is the best I have to offer,” said Patterson. “Our numbers are factual. We are working hard and arresting a lot of people. There are things we have no control over. If you want things the way they are, in control, I’m the person for the job.”
For more of the story see the Cleveland Advocate.
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