Just as I was settling in to write a blog entry exploring a very interesting legal ruling that came out of the Southern District of New York, I came across a news article that stopped me in my tracks.

Former Pennsylvania senator and 2012 presidential hopeful Rick Santorum was making an appearance on a New Hampshire radio station this week trying to drum up support for a White House bid.

In response to a caller, Santorum, a two-term GOP senator before being soundly defeated in 2006, offered up a gem of an explanation as to why the nation's social security system is failing -abortion.

You heard it right. Forget the fact that the government has royally screwed up the entire country with its complete lack of fiscal responsibility. Santorum says it isn't the government, it's the "abortion culture" that is to blame. Here it is, directly from the horse's mouth:

"The Social Security system, in my opinion, is a flawed design, period. But having said that, the design would work a lot better if we had stable demographic trends. We don't have enough workers to support the retirees ... A third of the young people in America are not in America today because of abortion."

Excuse me; did he just say if babies weren't being aborted, those babies would now be workers, paying into the system to support retirees? Wow.

Santorum is a smart guy. In addition to being a two-term senator, he is an attorney, which makes his comments all the more baffling. Is he trying to stir the pot to generate buzz and get people talking about him early in what may be a wide-open Republican primary in 2012? Maybe. But scarier yet is the idea that he might actually believe what he said. Lending credence to that possibility is the following quote, also taken from the same interview.

"We have seven children, so we're doing our part to fund the Social Security system," he told the host of the program.

So senator, let me make sure I am following you on this. Forget planning the size of your family based on your own desires, or what might make practical sense for you. No, you are saying we each have an obligation to supply workers to the labor pool, thus beefing up contributions to the social security war chest, keeping the retirees in the black. Interesting idea. And by interesting, I mean insane.

If I may, here is an alternative thought: How about the government tries spending less than it takes in? You know a balanced budget. Crazy idea, I know, but it is a thought.

If you believe Santorum, the answer isn't cut spending; it is increase the production of healthy, able-bodied taxpayers. Why hasn't someone thought of this by now?

For a guy that couldn't even hold onto his own Senate seat a few years back, Santorum isn't likely to pose a serious threat in the upcoming presidential election. Still, the fact that he rose through the ranks to hold a seat in the U.S. Senate gives one pause to wonder.

To listen to the entire interview, visit wezs.com.