The Hill News

Pro-union protesters in Wisconsin are acting like addicts who had their drug taken from them, former Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.) said this week.

Santorum made a stop earlier this week in South Carolina, an important early primary state, where he compared bloated entitlement spending to a drug.

“What these folks are in Washington is no better than a drug dealer,” Santorum said at a dinner Monday night, according to the Spartanburg Herald-Journal. "They give you a subtle narcotic to make you feel better as you do worse."

With regard to the Wisconsin protesters, Santorum added, "They are acting like their drug is being taken away from them."

The protests in Wisconsin's state capital of Madison have captured the attention of a national audience! and has drawn heated comparisons to a number of outside events, including the unrest in Egypt.

Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan (R) last week said, "It's like Cairo's moved to Madison these days."

Demonstrators are upset over GOP Gov. Scott Walker's budget fix bill, which would force public employees to pay for a portion of their pension and healthcare benefits and would limit their collective bargaining rights.