Gary Johnson on Social Security Libertarian presidential nominee; former Republican NM Governor

Some or all of Social Security should be privatized

Martin Heinrich (D): No. Signed Social Security Protectors Pledge.

Gary Johnson (L): Yes. Some or all of Social Security should be privatized.

Mick Rich (R): No position found.

Change eligibility rules for Medicare; and age for Soc.Sec.

JOHNSON: Well, in the case of Social Security, there are some reforms to Social Security and that starts with raising the retirement age, something that neither party is talking about. Neither Trump or Clinton are talking about reforming the entitlements that happen--

Q: Wait, so you raise the Social Security retirement age?

JOHNSON: I would, yes, I would make that proposal, yes.

Q: And what would you raise it to?

JOHNSON: Well, for starters, it needs to go up. What is the exact age? I mean this ends up to be, you know, very dollars and cents and very accounting oriented, but it seems to me that it should be at least 70 years old.

Q: And would you similarly raise the age of eligibility for Medicare?

JOHNSON: There is that, but there's also who is eligible for Medicare.

Raise retirement age to 75

JOHNSON: Absolutely. There are reforms to Social Security that need to take place. One would be raising the retirement age.

Q: To 75, you've suggested. Do you think you could get that done?

JOHNSON: I'm not giving a number here. This is something that Congress is going to have to come up with. Let's remember that when Social Security was adopted, 55 was the average age of an American. And nobody was going to even live to collect it in the first place.

Create personal investment accounts

"Gosh there's one other one, what is it?" Johnson mused before trailing off. The final proposal--means testing for Social Security recipients--came to Johnson several minutes later.

To his credit, he was able to discuss the proposal in detail, but if he does make it into the general election debates, there will be no two-minute lags, and SNL's writers would love nothing more than a pro-weed third party candidate who forgets things.

Raise the retirement age to 70 or 72

"Citing a story in USA Today which reported that a rash of retirements in 2009 is pushing Social Security to the brink, Johnson said the retirement age needs to be raised perhaps to 70 or 72. "This is the reality, we're broke," said Johnson. "We're broke."

That's STILL the reality.

A portion of Social Security ought to be privatized

The [Social Security] retirement age needs to be raised. A portion of Social Security ought to be privatized, if not all. And there probably needs to be some means testing. It's a Ponzi scheme that's not sustainable.

Replace the payroll tax with FairTax

Raise the retirement age; plus means testing

A: I would cut Social Security by raising the retirement age and have common sense means testing that's fair. I would scrap the entire federal tax system and replace it with the FairTax--a one-time consumption tax, with no more Medicare and unemployment payroll deductions--so we'd replace all federal taxes, abolishing the IRS.

Reform all entitlements, including Social Security

Johnson: Medicaid and Medicare and reforming Social Security.

Bachmann: Obamacare, the largest entitlement and spending program in our country's history.

Gingrich: Also, fraud in Medicaid and Medicare are rampant. We should stop paying the crooks.

Cain: I would focus on major entitlement reform. This would focus on programs similar to Social Security.

Open to personal accounts for Social Security

Governor Johnson has also said that he would be open to personal accounts for Social Security, as well as means testing the program.

Change escalator from wage-based to inflation-based

We must act now to:
1. Balance the Budget. The math is simple: Federal spending must be cut not by millions or billions, but by trillions. And it must be done today. It's time to:
   • Reassess the role of the federal government and identify responsibilities that can be met more efficiently by the private sector.
2. Enact Responsible Entitlement Reform: Most people in Washington seem to think that we can control spending and balance the budget without reforming Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security. This is lunacy.
   • Fix Social Security by changing the escalator from being based on wage growth to inflation. It's time for Social Security to reflect today's realities without breaking trust with those soon to retire.
3. Audit the Federal Reserve: We have a right to understand the process by which our currency is being created and managed.
   • Get the Federal Reserve out of the business of propping up the stock market through quantitative easing.

Maintain long-term solvency of Social Security and Medicare.

The Issue

Tax issues raise several concerns for states.
• How much of the potential non-Social Security surplus should be dedicated to tax cuts and breaks?
• Absent any consensus on long-term legislation to ensure solvency of Social Security and Medicare, would major federal revenue losses for tax cuts risk shifting substantial entitlement burdens to states?
• How would federal tax changes affect state income taxes?
• What are key elements for states of any future major tax bill? In school construction? For retirement? For housing and economic development? For health care?

NGA’s Position