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Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump said he and his rich pals should “voluntarily” forgo their Social Security benefits to bolster the health of the retiree entitlement system, declaring “I don’t need mine, by the way.” At a multi-candidate presidential forum in New Hampshire on Monday, Mr. Trump said that for the good of the country, rich taxpayers should sacrifice the benefits from the entitlement system into which they had paid throughout their professional lives. “I have friends that are worth hundreds of millions and billions of dollars and get Social Security. They don’t even know the check comes in,” said...

Republican presidential candidates. who have had to seek contributions from a handful of wealthy contributors, want to cut Social Security. Average Americans love the program; the superwealthy don’t. Something strange is happening in the Republican primary — something strange, that is, besides the Trump phenomenon. For some reason, just about all the leading candidates other than The Donald have taken a deeply unpopular position, a known political loser, on a major domestic policy issue. And it’s interesting to ask why. The issue in question is the future of Social Security, which turned 80 last week. The retirement program is, of...

<p>Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee delivered a strong defense of government safety net programs for seniors at a candidate forum in Florida Tuesday, aiming for retired voters in a state rich with them.</p> <p>While former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie have called for raising the retirement age and means-testing Social Security benefits, Huckabee called those proposals “absolutely ridiculous.”</p>

As he gears up for another presidential campaign, former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee is making a big break with the Republican party on the issue of entitlement reform. Meeting with reporters at a hotel in Washington, D.C. this morning, Huckabee strongly criticized New Jersey governor Chris Christie's proposal to reform Social Security and said he would not sign Paul Ryan's Medicare reform into law if he were president. "I don't know why Republicans want to insult Americans by pretending they don't understand what their Social Security program and Medicare program is," Huckabee said in response to a question about Christie's...

This week, America marked two significant milestones in its history. Friday was the 80th anniversary of Social Security, a program that has helped millions of seniors, including my parents, retire with dignity. Saturday is the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II, when the most violent conflict in human history ended as an American victory. We refer to the Americans responsible for these accomplishments as the “Greatest Generation.” In less than two decades, they survived economic catastrophe, triumphed in a global conflict, and laid the foundation for unparalleled prosperity for their children in what would become an American...

<p>LONDONDERRY, N.H. (AP) - New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is introducing himself to New Hampshire voters in a format he knows well - a town hall meeting.</p> <p>The likely 2016 Republican presidential contender drew a capacity crowd Wednesday to his first town hall in New Hampshire, in Londonderry. He opened the event by talking about his life story.</p>

He told ABC five years ago that he supported citizenship, leaving him with two options now. One: Stick to his guns and give conservatives another reason to treat “Christie” as a curse word. Two: Follow Scott Walker’s lead by pleading ignorance in his earlier views and claiming that he’s since seen the light. Actual quote from Christie: “I have now learned some of the ramifications for all of these things.” What those things might be isn’t clear, but it’d be impolite after such an earnest pander to badger the poor guy for details. He’s trying, Republicans. A for effort? This...

Both Sen. Lindsey Graham (S.C.) and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie are speaking bluntly about entitlement reform, advocating means-testing for Social Security retirement benefits as a way to save the system for those who need it. “These are real ideas,“ Christie said in New Hampshire on Friday. “And, you know, I’ve had a lot of people say, ‘Well, why would you possibly want to suggest those things?’ Because we have to. We have to. And if you want to start a national conversation, let’s start one that matters.” “We’re $18 trillion in debt,” Graham told Fox News Sunday. “Eighty million...

Between Chris Christie and Senator Warren (D-MA), Social Security reform is getting more media coverage today than at any time in the past 30 years. From hearing the details, you might conclude they are talking about different government programs. They aren’t. These people are part of the changing debate that is taking shape in Washington. For decades, any problem that developed within Social Security was fixed by shifting the cost to future workers. Today that isn’t possible. What is the problem? Social Security contains a massive imbalance between resources and promises. The Trustees of the Social Security’s Trust Funds estimate...

If anything needs cutting or confiscating is the politicians' power and insatiable desire to spend the taxpayers' money The Governor of New Jersey, Chris Christie, gave a speech on Tuesday, April 14, 2015, in which he proposed, among other things, raising the retirement age from 67 to 69. He stated that, “We should remember that Social Security at its core should be retirement insurance. I’m suggesting that Americans pay into the system throughout the course of their life, knowing that it will be there, if they need it, to support them in their later years, so seniors will not grow...

CEDAR FALLS, Iowa -- Chris Christie bills himself as the candidate willing to speak the truth even if his audience doesn't want to hear it. Opening his talk at Beck's Sports Grill, he wastes no time inviting a negative reaction. "The last time I was here was to go to the UNI-Dome," he recalls, referring to the University of Northern Iowa's nearby football venue. "Mary Pat and I are alums of the University of Delaware." At this point, those present drown him out with groans in bitter memory of the Blue Hens' elimination of the Panthers in the Football Championship...

Chris Christie can be Hillary Clinton’s running mate. They’re both liberals, they’re both clueless, they’re both egocentrics. And they’re both wrong. We’ll talk about Hillary another day. Today’s subject is Christie. Specifically, his announced intent to “take on” entitlements. He rightly points out that entitlements consume some 70 percent of the federal budget and are a fiscal and social cancer that is destroying America. Entitlements – the “rights” of the welfare state – oblige the taxpayer to fund a limitless number of people receiving a limitless number of dollars over a limitless series of programs. Entitlements are automatic theft, redistribution...

Social Security turns 80 on Friday, and the massive retirement and disability program is showing its age. Social Security's disability fund is projected to run dry next year. The retirement fund has enough money to pay full benefits until 2035. But once the fund is depleted, the shortfalls are projected to be enormous. The stakes are huge: Nearly 60 million retirees, disabled workers, spouses and children get monthly Social Security payments, and that number is projected to grow to 90 million over the next two decades. And the timing is bad: Social Security faces these problems as fewer employers are...

Some are touting New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie's proposal to take an ax to Social Security as an act of bold political leadership. Sorry, I see the opposite. America needs leadership to replace old dysfunctional baggage with new programs and ideas fitting for a free 21st-century country. We don't need those who think leadership is retrofitting the country into our old baggage. It's the latter that Christie proposes. His "solution" to the impending bankruptcy of Social Security is to phase out benefits for retirees earning $80,000 to $200,000 and above and increase the retirement age from 67 to 69, and...

(CNSNews.com) - Jeb Bush says he would considering pushing back the Social Security retirement age by as many as five years and scaling back benefits for Americans who paid into the system but who also have accumulated wealth. "We need to look over the horizon and begin to phase in, over an extended period of time, going from (age) 65 to 68 or 70. And that by itself will help sustain the retirement system for anybody under the age of 40," Bush, a potential contender for the Republican presidential nomination, told CBS's "Face the Nation" on Sunday. Bush also wants...

MANCHESTER, N.H. (AP) -- Framing himself as a politician who's unafraid to share "hard truths" with the American people, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is proposing an income cap on Social Security benefits as part of major restructuring plan announced ahead of a likely presidential bid. The Republican is set to deliver a speech Tuesday in New Hampshire outlining his ideas on reforming Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid — so-called entitlement programs. As part of the plan, he'll propose phasing out Social Security payments for those making more than $80,000 in other income and eliminating them for those making $200,000...

America's fiscal need for entitlement reform is pushing the discussion about Social Security inexorably toward "means testing," a policy both the left and the right have long avoided. Both sides realize that means testing, namely reducing or eliminating payments from the program to higher income senior citizens, would recast Social Security from its current perception by citizens as a retirement program to one of outright redistribution or welfare. Many Americans see Social Security as a savings plan, albeit a coerced one, and a recent poll by the AARP (which certainly knows how to write poll questions geared to suggest as...

Next week we get the State of the Union address. The question, “Is there anything that might come from the speech that will impact the markets? The economy? Maybe. One area that I think we may get a recommendation from the President is a means tax on Social Security benefits.

Gary Halbert's Weekly E-LetterDelivered Every Wednesday5/10/2005Did President Bush Cave On Social Security?IN THIS ISSUE: Introduction Chalk One Up For The Democrats & The Press Bush Caves On The Issue Of "Means Testing" Give 'Em What They Want & They Still Object Washington Post: No Problem, So Do Nothing Disclaimer Introduction Last week, President Bush began a political process which gives him the option of abandoning his call for private savings accounts as a central point of his push for Social Security reform.  His nationwide push for private accounts has not been met with overwhelming support, and his poll ratings...

WASHINGTON, April 28 - President Bush said tonight that Social Security should be adjusted so that benefits for people with lower incomes would grow faster than for those who were more affluent. Mr. Bush said the change would go a long way toward solving the retirement system's problems and would keep a solemn pledge to people who have worked hard for a lifetime but have not amassed great wealth: "You will not retire into poverty." Speaking at a White House news conference on the eve of the symbolic 100-day mark of his second term, Mr. Bush again pushed for voluntary...