Pressure is building on Pa's ex Senator to officially announce his all-but-announced presidential run next year -- at this point his Expedia account alone should suffice as some kind of exploratory committee.

At any rate, with Mitt Romney declaring such yesterday and, more pressingly for Rick, his former employers at Fox requiring all that all entrants in their May 5 Greenville, S.C. debate be officially in the race, time is running out on the guy. Here's what his spokeswoman told Dan Malloy on the latter point via email yesterday:

Senator Santorum is encouraged by the response he has received in Greenville and around the country and is in the process of making a decision about the 2012 campaign. If he meets all of the criteria established by Fox News, he will participate in the May 5 debate.

As we've noted, repeatedly, the guy ain't scared of speaking his mind. Today he told Fox and Friends that health care reform will be fatal to Romney's presidential chances. (Which he's said before.)

And the AP's Des Moines correspondent Thomas Beaumont has a story on Michele Bachmann, of all people, holding back from giving her full support to Paul Ryan's budget-cutting blueprint. But most GOP contenders are doing the same -- only one contender has fully backed it. I think you know who that is:

Other Republicans eyeing the White House have taken similar stances, praising Ryan without specifically endorsing his plan's provisions — with the exception of former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum. He endorsed the Medicaid and Medicare pieces, and in a statement called the Medicare plan "right on target."

Schedule: Besides Fox and Friends this morning, he had radio interviews with stations in York, Pa. and Boston.