“Do Republicans really care less about the person at the bottom of the ladder than Democrats do? To be painfully honest, I would have to say in some ways ‘yes,”’ Santorum writes in his new book out Monday, Blue Collar Conservatives: Recommitting to an America That Works.

“There are some in my party who have taken the ideal of individualism to such an extreme that they have forgotten the obligation to look out for our fellow man. The rhetoric is often harsh and gives the all-too-willing media an opportunity to tar all Republicans with the same brush,” he writes.

Santorum, a former Pennsylvania senator who won 11 GOP contests in the 2012 Republican primary season, breaks with party orthodoxy in suggesting that it’s time to dump the simple call for more tax cuts. He said that individual taxes, beginning with former President Reagan’s efforts, have been cut so much that further reductions won’t have much of an impact.