GOP presidential candidate Nikki Haley said she wants to save Social Security by raising the retirement age and cutting benefits for the wealthy.
“I’ll raise the retirement age—only for younger people who are just entering the system,” Haley said at an event at the New Hampshire Institute of Politics Auditorium in Manchester, N.H., on Friday, MarketWatch reported.
“We’ll keep these programs the same for anyone who’s in their 40s, 50s, 60s, or older, period. And we’ll preserve Social Security and Medicare for the next generation,” Haley, the former governor of South Carolina, added.
Haley also said she would push for limiting benefits for the wealthy, who she didn’t define, and expand Medicare Advantage plans so that more people were eligible for benefits.
The combined trust funds that pay for Social Security are scheduled to be depleted in 2034, according to the latest Social Security trustees’ report. Without changes, that would mean that benefits would need to be cut by more than 20% starting in just a decade.
“If we do nothing, Social Security will be bankrupt in 10 years. Medicare will be bankrupt in eight years.We need leaders who fight for you—not themselves,” Haley said.
Both President Joe Biden and Rep. John Larson, a Democrat from Connecticut, are pushing legislation that calls for taxing workers who earn more than $400,000 at rates higher than the current 12.4%, without adding additional benefits when they retire.
Larson’s bill, the Social Security 2100 Act, would also increase benefits and add caregiver credits to the benefit calculations of those who leave the workplace to care for children, ill spouses or aging parents.
Larson told the audience at a virtual AARP Social Security townhall Thursday they should “Speak out. Scream. Vote” for reform now, before SSA funds dwindle and more drastic cuts need to be made. The AARP, which has 39 million members age 55 or over, is supporting Larson’s bill.
While the subject of Social Security cuts have become strained within the GOP itself, with some members pushing to raise the age for full benefits, GOP presidential frontrunner former President Donald Trump has warned fellow Republicans to stay away from benefit cuts.