Donald Trump & Social Security: A Most Curious Stance - AMAC & The Washington Times
Susan Ferrechio reports that Donald Trump has abandoned his previous stances pre-2015 on shoring up Social Security with a higher retirement age and private accounts in favor of essentially leaving the program as is. “You don’t have to touch Social Security. We have more money laying in the ground, far greater than anything we can do by hurting senior citizens with their Social Security,” Trump has said. His stances appear designed to innoculate himself against Democrat attacks lines of “you’re cutting benefits.” But, he is at odds with GOP rival Nikki Haley and some bipartisan lawmakers, particulary Sen. Angus King (I-ME) and Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) who want to head off insolvency, now just 10 or fewer years away. Various proposals in Congress call for payroll tax increases, benefits cuts for higher earners, or raising the retirment age. Ferrechio notes Trump’s untested plan of ramping up revenue from exporting U.S. energy will undoubtedly draw criticism and questions. Full article here.
As an example of the leading thoughts on reforming Social Security, the Association of Mature American Citizens (AMAC, Inc.) believes Social Security must be preserved and modernized. This can be achieved without tax increases by slight modifications to cost-of-living adjustments and payments to high-income beneficiaries plus gradually increasing the full (but not early) retirement age. AMAC Action, AMAC’s advocacy arm, supports an increase in the threshold where benefits are taxed and then indexing for inflation, and calls for eliminating the reduction in people’s benefits for those choosing to work before full retirement age. AMAC is resolute in its mission that Social Security be preserved for current and successive generations and has gotten the attention of lawmakers in D.C., meeting with many congressional offices and staff over the past decade.