I don’t think President-elect Trump wants to meddle with Medicare or Social Security…He made a promise in the campaign that that was something he didn’t want to do. But what he wants to do is help grow the economy, shore up Medicare and Social Security for future generations. And if we can get three to five, six percent growth, we’ll do that.
Trump’s position, reiterated by Priebus, is at odds with the GOP platform, which states:
We reject the old maxim that Social Security is the “Third Rail” of American politics, deadly for anyone who would change it. The Democratic Party still treats it that way, even though everyone knows that its current course will lead to a financial and social disaster. Younger Americans have lost all faith in the program and expect little return for what they are paying into it. As the party of America’s future, we accept the responsibility to preserve and modernize a system of retirement security forged in an old industrial era beyond the memory of most Americans. Current retirees and those close to retirement can be assured of their benefits. Of the many reforms being proposed, all options should be considered to preserve Social Security. As Republicans, we oppose tax increases and believe in the power of markets to create wealth and to help secure the future of our Social Security system. Saving Social Security is more than a challenge. It is our moral obligation to those who trusted in the government’s word.
A rising tide may lift all boats, but it won’t save structurally deficient entitlement programs, as frequent contributor Ike Brannon writes for the George W. Bush Institute:
The arithmetic link between economic growth, wages, and benefits is so strong that there is no level of economic growth that can return the Social Security system to solvency. Cato Institute economist Jagadeesh Gokhale, author of the magisterial book “Social Security: A Fresh Look at Policy Alternatives,” estimates that only long-term growth in excess of 8% per year would bring the system into balance — a virtual impossibility for a mature economy such as our own.
Republicans in Congress have long pushed for entitlement reform. Speaker Paul Ryan, in particular, was a champion long before he rose through the ranks of House Republican leadership. His entitlement reform proposals became the GOP standard, having been passed by congress multiple times.
As Stephen Hayes reported for us in 2012, it is literally the main reason Paul Ryan chose to stay in Congress:
Ryan decided that if he stayed in Congress he would make a strong push for entitlement reform. He couldn’t do that unless he took a larger leadership role. When he returned to Washington, Ryan pushed John Boehner, the lame-duck House majority leader, to make him the ranking Republican on the House Budget Committee. Ryan’s pitch to Boehner and the others on the selection panel was simple: “We’ve wandered off the path of fiscal responsibility, and we’ve got to get serious about getting back on it.” With Boehner’s backing, the panel of two dozen Republicans made Ryan its top Republican, passing over 12 others with more seniority.
