Brody File Exclusive: Rick Santorum Says There's 'Huge Problem' With Cain's 9-9-9 Tax Plan

In an exclusive interview with The Brody File, GOP presidential candidate Rick Santorum criticizes Herman Cain’s “9-9-9” tax plan saying, “We don’t need to give the federal government more ways to raise money from us.”

Santorum also talked about God in his life on the campaign trail saying, “I just feel like I’m in a constant state of awareness of God and His presence."

As for catching fire at some point before the Iowa Caucus, he tells me, “When God calls you to do this, He’ll be faithful, and that doesn’t mean I’ll win. I’m not suggesting that God ordained it for me to win, nobody of faith would believe that, but I also know that you have to wait on Him, so I’m patient.”

I spoke with Rick Santorum Friday afternoon at the Values Voter Summit in Washington, D.C. Watch the clips below.

MANDATORY COURTESY: CBN NEWS/THE BRODY FILE

The Brody File also talked to Rick Perry and Herman Cain. Check The Brody File blog for those clips. A full report on the Values Voter Summit airs Monday on "The 700 Club."

Rick Santorum on Herman Cain’s 9-9-9 Plan:

Rick Santorum: Well, there’s a huge problem. The 9-9-9 plan puts a 9 percent sales tax in place that has never been. The federal government has never had a sales tax. To put a 9 percent sales tax in play, what tax have you ever seen that’s instituted that went away?

So now we’re going to have not just corporate income taxes, not just payroll taxes, not just income taxes, but now a sales tax on top of it? We don’t need to give the federal government more ways to raise money from us. So, I don’t think you’re going to find a lot of conservatives who are going to be excited about expanding the tax base of the federal government.

Does anybody really believe in a few short years that that 9 percent income tax is going to stay 9 percent for millionaires and billionaires? You put a tax in place, it’s going to go one place, up. And there will be unfortunately times when in this country that there will be people in place to move that tax up, whether it’s a sales tax and an income tax.

Our approach is let’s fix the problem. The problem is the manufacturing sector of this economy has been gutted in many respects, and we need to rebuild that manufacturing, not from government programs, we need to create a competitive environment for manufacturers to compete here, and make a profit, and make products here.

And we do that by eliminating the tax on manufacturers, giving them a source of revenue, to be able to build those plants and facilities by allowing them to bring corporate profits from overseas back here.

We have an energy policy that allows folks to explore for energy and keep electric prices down. And finally, we have a plan to repeal every Obama regulation that affects the business community by more than $100 million, which is unfortunately a lot, and we repeal them.

And some places we’ll replace them, where necessary. Others we’ll just repeal them to get government off the backs of business and have them at the side of business to help them do the right thing.

Rick Santorum on feeling the presence of God:

Santorum: It’s actually been an incredibly wonderful time. I just feel like I’m in a constant state of awareness of God and His presence. I don’t know how people do it otherwise. Because it’s not a lot of sleep, it’s a lot of this, a lot of being on all the time.

And I can’t tell you - and I’ll look into the camera - I can’t tell you how much it means when people say I’m praying for you. Because, in many respects, and I certainly don’t, the illusion is a Biblical one, but I don’t - I'm not putting myself in the place of this Biblical figure - but it’s in a very, very small way an analogy of Moses where people are holding his hands up during the battle.

And I feel like people are lifting my hands up and just allowing me to continue on and, in many respects, what I consider to be supernatural energy. I don’t sleep much. And we have a very small staff. And in many respects I’m the chief fundraiser, the chief campaign manager, the chief message strategist. And we’ve got great people around us, but it’s a small staff and everybody is just overworked, and yet the atmosphere on the campaign is amazing.

We just have great people who understand the mission and are all doing more than I think they all ever thought they could do, and I’m certainly just one of those guys. I don’t see myself as any different than everybody else who is on this campaign, who just is just working 24/7 and feels like they’re on a mission.

And so it’s not just pray for me, pray for Karen and the kids, and pray for all of the folks who are working with us that we continue to be faithful.

Rick Santorum: Waiting on the Lord’s timing

Santorum: I’ll just tell you what I think. I pray about this. And, I felt like this was, Karen and I prayed a lot about running. We have seven children, ages 20 to 3; we have a little girl who I miss. I really miss. You met her. I miss her. And, I’m gone sometimes five, six days in a row, and I don’t see her. When her life expectancy is yesterday, it’s hard.

And, so I felt called to do it. Because of her, not in spite of her. Because I felt like someone needed to be out and fight for her, for little kids like her. And so, my sense is that when God calls you to do this, He’ll be faithful, and that doesn’t mean I’ll win. I’m not suggesting that God ordained it for me to win, nobody of faith would believe that. But I also know that you have to wait on Him, so I’m patient.

And whether that happens in December, or whether it happens in some other form in some other place at some other time, I’ve given testimony all over this country, and I’m very proud of the work I’ve done in the Congress and I’m very upfront about the role that faith played in that.

And I talked all the time about how I went out and did things that probably weren’t the politically smartest thing to do, but I thought I was being faithful to what I was being called to do. And that while things didn’t always work out how I had hoped, ultimately God was always faithful.

So, that’s what I believe will happen here. Don’t know what that means, but of course we really never do.