DeSantis Campaign Press Release - Nikki Haley Would Cut Social Security; Does Not Understand Policy

Nikki Haley thinks the retirement age is "way too low" – but she won't say what it should be. With life expectancy decreasing, her call to raise the retirement age makes no sense.

• In a 2023 interview with Bloomberg News, Haley asserted that the retirement age of 65 is "way too low." Haley also proposed "instead of cost of living increases, we do it based on inflation". The interviewer repeatedly asked Haley "what is the right age", in her view, for retirement. Haley refused to give a straight answer, suggesting that she had not thought it through.
• Haley on the retirement age: "Well, I think we have to do the numbers. We've gotta figure out what it is. But what we do know is 65 is way too low. And we need to increase that. We need to do it according to life expectancy."
• New York Times: "Anyone who says, as Haley does, that the retirement age should rise in line with increasing life expectancy is being oblivious, perhaps willfully, to the grim inequality of modern America. Until Covid struck, average life expectancy at 65, the relevant number, was indeed rising. But these gains were concentrated among Americans with relatively high incomes . Less affluent Americans — those who depend most on Social Security — have seen little increase in life expectancy and, in some cases, declines. …So anyone invoking rising life expectancy as a reason to delay Social Security benefits is, in effect, saying that aging janitors must keep working (or be cast into extreme poverty) because bankers are living longer."

Nikki Haley talks about "reforming" Social Security, but she never provides any specifics to help Americans understand how her plans might affect them. Could it be that she does not understand policy well enough to elaborate? As the Wall Street Journal wrote last month, Haley's incoherent views on Social Security show her "limited command of policy."

• Wall Street Journal: "An exchange on Social Security illustrates... [Haley's] limited command of policy. She has the backbone to say the U.S. must raise the retirement age. But she is unfamiliar with an idea to tweak how benefits are calculated—basing adjustments on rising prices instead of rising wages—that could help address the shortfall with less political pain. "That's interesting," she says. Then she turns to an aide: "Remind me to look at that."
• Nikki Haley has since proven that she does not have the "backbone" that the WSJ commended. In her January 2024 town hall with Fox News, Haley tried to rewrite history, falsely claiming "I have never once said that" the retirement age is too low.

Nikki Haley's poor grasp of policy, combined with her eagerness to appease her billionaire donors, creates a disastrous combination. Haley will not hesitate to sell out American seniors and cut social security – though of course she won't consider cutting spending on Ukraine. Her allegiance is to her donors, the media, and the left – not conservatives.