(DCWatchdog.com) – Nikki Haley, one of the 2024 Republican presidential candidates, has called for raising the retirement age and limiting Medicare and Social Security.
While on the campaign trail, Haley, a former US ambassador to the UN and former GOP governor of South Carolina, spoke at a town hall meeting in Council Bluff, Iowa.
“The first thing you do is you change the retirement age of the young people coming up so that we can try and have some sort of system for them,” GOP presidential hopeful Haley stated in Iowa on Wednesday, as cited by CNN and Newsmax.
In 2023, the full retirement age for 100% Social Security benefit eligibility is transitioning to 67, while Medicare coverage starts at 65.
She dwelled on the need for entitlement reform since Social Security and Medicare “are headed for bankruptcy” and claimed that any cuts would not affect older Americans.
“You reform the entitlements, but you do it in a way that you don’t take anything away from seniors or people who are getting ready to retire. You focus on the new generation, you focus on what’s next,” Haley said.
The CNN report notes that former President Donald Trump has pressured the Republican Party to support Social Security and Medicare.
At the recent Conservative Political Action Conference, Trump accused some fellow Republicans that “are out to cut Medicare to a level that it will no longer be recognizable” and that they “want to raise the minimum age of Social Security to 70, 75, or even 80.”
A report by The Washington Times pointed out that the 45th president of the United States didn’t mention any names. Still, his team has previously expressed public disagreements with Haley over the future of Social Security and Medicare.
Meanwhile, Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, deemed another likely 2024 GOP presidential hopeful, has been mostly quiet on the issue. He has previously supported nonbinding budgets privatizing Social Security and increasing the retirement age.
Another possible bidder for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, former Vice President Mike Pence, recently told CNBC that cuts to entitlement programs should be considered when dealing with the issue of the growing national debt.
In a recent article in The New York Times, Democrat President Joe Biden revealed his proposal to prop up Medicare’s finance through a tax spike on Americans making more than $400,000 while also giving it more flexibility in negotiating drug prices.
Newsmax predicts Biden’s plan will likely be “stonewalled by the Republican majority in the US House of Representatives.
What is your opinion about Nikki Haley’s plan to change both Social Security and Medicare? Share your thoughts by emailing [email protected]. Thank you.
Nikki Haley, making her rounds as a Republican presidential candidate, called for raising the retirement age and placing limits on Social Security and Medicare at a town hall in Council Bluff, Iowa. https://t.co/98OVqcbAQJ
— NEWSMAX (@NEWSMAX) March 9, 2023
