“Last night’s Republican debate was not reassuring for American workers who are counting on collecting the Social Security benefits they earn with every paycheck. Two of the GOP presidential hopefuls promised, in effect, to cut Social Security for future beneficiaries. Nikki Haley, falsely claiming that Social Security is going “bankrupt,” said she would raise the retirement age for workers now in their 20s and means-test benefits. Chris Christie said he would raise the retirement age and eliminate benefits for higher earners, essentially converting Social Security into a safety net program instead of an earned benefit. Governor Christie and Ambassador Haley fail to recognize that future generations of retirees will rely on their Social Security benefits even more than today’s seniors do — and that means testing would cut deep into the heart of the American middle class. Ron DeSantis — to his credit — promised not to cut Social Security, but demonstrated a fundamental misunderstanding of the program’s finances by perpetuating the myth that the government is ‘stealing’ from the trust fund. With public polling consistently showing that voters want to see Social Security strengthened and expanded — not cut and fundamentally altered — it is puzzling that GOP candidates continue to embrace policies that are so out of step with the American public.” – Max Richtman, President and CEO, National Committee to Preserve Social Security & Medicare
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Media inquiries:
Walter Gottlieb
Director of Communications
[email protected]
www.ncpssm.org