“Hillary firmly believes that we must not cut or privatize Social Security,” according to AARP.
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Trump’s position confused by adviser
For Trump, his position on Social Security has gotten a bit muddled.
The Republican presidential candidate said in April that he’d leave Social Security untouched.
“They want to cut your Social Security, I’m not cutting your Social Security,” Trump said at a campaign stop in Racine, Wisconsin, earlier this year.
But less than a month later, one of Trump’s policy advisers, Sam Clovis, seemed to put cuts in play:
“After the administration has been in place, then we will start to take a look at all of the programs, including entitlement programs like Social Security and Medicare,” Clovis said. “We’ll start taking a hard look at those to start seeing what we can do in a bipartisan way.”
A Trump spokeswoman later denied that Clovis’ statement was a change in Trump’s position, according to The Wall Street Journal.
“Sam Clovis did not remotely suggest anything having to do with cuts,” said Trump spokeswoman Hope Hicks. “I read his statements as though we need to examine budgetary discipline to protect programs like Social Security and Medicare, which is exactly what Mr. Trump intends to do.”
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Spending outstrips incoming payments
Whether Trump or Clinton win the White House, the problem of Social Security solvency isn’t going away. A report by trustees of the Social Security system says it will be depleted by 2034, as spending outstrips payments to the government each year.
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By 2035, the number of older Americans will increase from 48 million today to 79 million, according to the Social Security Administration.
As a result, the issue of preserving Social Security is a ticking time bomb not only for the new president but also for the new Congress.
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