Santorum releases his income taxes

As Rick Santorum surges to the top of the GOP field, there's been a lot of talk about his ability to connect with blue-collar voters.

Well, there is one thing that the ex-Pennsylvania senator has in common with the working class: He knows what it's like to lose a job.

But there's where the similarity ends. In the four years after voters in the Keystone State unceremoniously bounced Santorum from office in a landside, the career politician earned a whopping $3.6 million, averaging close to $1 million a year over 2008, 2009 and 2010 -- despite seeming, as the New York Times' Gail Collins described him, sort of unemployed.

He...is...NOT...the...99 percent:

Rick Santorum said they would come this week, and here are four years worth of his taxes, from years 2007 through 2010.

They can be found here, here, here and here. The returns are the most in number that have been released by any of the major GOP contenders - Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney didn't release several years' worth.

Santorum and his wife Karen filed joint returns for all four years. As you'll see from the returns, the Santorums' adjusted gross income went from about $659,000 in 2007, his first year out of the Senate, to $952,000 in 2008, to $1.1 million in 2009 and about $923,000 in 2010.

They paid about $167,000 in taxes in 2007, about $262,000 in 2008, $310,000 in 2009, and $263,000 in 2010.

There is rental income from a condo and depreciation on that property over the various years. The Santorums' charitable giving was a small percentage of his income each year.

You would think that losing an election by 18 points wouldn't be the best career move, but as been reported previously, everyone from health care companies to frackers to Fox News to, ahem, the then-Brian Tierney led Philadelphia Inquirer were eager to practically throw dollars at a former U.S. senator. Pundits will continue to blather on about Santorum's bond with the working man, but I'm not really sure why. Clearly, he doesn't feel their pain.