Topics in the News: Entitlement Reform
Joe Biden on Social Security
: Jul 7, 2024
Never let Republicans cut Social Security
Here are some of the ways in which Donald Trump and his extreme MAGA allies are planning to consolidate power:- Trump proudly says he plans to "terminate" the Affordable Care Act for 45 million Americans.
- When asked about cuts to entitlements
like Medicare and Social Security, Trump said: "Oh we'll be cutting," and later doubled down, saying, "There's a lot you can do…in terms of cutting." It's not a surprise--every one of Trump's budget proposals as President included cuts to
Social Security and Medicare.
- Trump's Project 2025 and congressional allies called for raising the retirement age, which would significantly cut Social Security benefits.
- Trump has called Social Security a "Ponzi Scheme," supported raising the
age for eligibility, and has been open to privatizing it.
Meanwhile, Joe Biden has strengthened, protected, and expanded the Affordable Care Act. And he will never let Republicans cut Social Security or Medicare
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Source: Biden campaign response, www.TrumpsProject2025.com
Ryan Binkley on Budget & Economy
: Feb 5, 2024
Two percent cut in nondefense discretionary spending
What we need to do is cut the things that don't work and invest in the things that do work. We need to be honest about the tough choices which need to be made, however. Yes, that means reducing discretionary spending, but it also means entitlement
reform. First, starting with nondefense discretionary spending, we need a two percent cut across the board. Our fiscal house is in disarray. We are not in a position to be paying for everything we want, instead we must focus on what we need.
I will pursue a Balanced Budget Amendment. Already, 46 states have some type of balanced budget requirement in place; 37 are in the State constitution. Even in the four states without formal balanced budget requirements have some sort of debt
restriction and other provisions to effectively restrict their ability to run a deficit. My package of budget process reforms will bring accountability--and fiscal responsibility--back to the federal budget process.
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Source: 2024 Presidential campaign website Binkley2024.com
Ron DeSantis on Social Security
: Jan 10, 2024
Social Security is not an entitlement; we all pay in
DESANTIS: Governor Haley has said Social Security is an entitlement, but it's not an entitlement. You're paying into it. It's not a welfare program. You're being taxed for this your whole life. And so to expect to have benefits on the backend,
I don't think that that's too much.The other thing I'd point out is Social Security for decades ran massive surpluses. What happened to those surpluses? The Congress spent the surpluses.
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Source: CNN 2024 pre-Iowa caucus one-on-one debate
Nikki Haley on Social Security
: Nov 8, 2023
Limit benefits on the wealthy; increases based on inflation
Any candidate that tells you that they're not going to take on entitlements, is not being serious. Instead of cost of living increases, we should go to increases based on inflation. We should limit benefits on the wealthy. And then expand Medicare
Advantage plans. Seniors love that and let's make sure we do that so that they can have more competition. That's how we'll deal with entitlement reform and that's how we'll start to pay down this debt.Fact Check: COLA definition from SSA.gov:
Since 1975, Social Security's general benefit increases have been based on increases in the cost of living, as measured by the Consumer Price Index [a measure of the rate of inflation]. We call such increases Cost-Of-Living Adjustments, or
COLAs. We determined a 3.2% COLA on October 12, 2023.
Fact Check by UsInflationCalculator.com: The annual inflation rate for the US was 3.7% for the previous 12 months, according to Labor Department data published on Oct. 12, 2023.
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Source: NBC News 2023 Republican primary debate in Miami
Dean Phillips on Social Security
: Oct 20, 2023
Supports bipartisan commissions on entitlements
Dean understands that we must work in a bipartisan fashion to ensure that the elements of a secure retirement are protected, including Social Security and Medicare. That is why he has supported Congressional action to create commissions
to provide recommendations for balanced action to make these federal programs solvent into the future, while also acknowledging the need to enhance benefits for retirees.
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Source: 2022 MN-3 House campaign website PhillipsForCongress.org
Nikki Haley on Environment
: May 7, 2023
Sued Obama's EPA over heavy-handed regulatory burdens
The federal government tried to tell South Carolina what to do, and Nikki repeatedly told it to take a hike. Nikki rejected Obamacare's Medicaid expansion because she knew another unfunded mandate would be disastrous for taxpayers. She also defended
SC's right-to-work laws when Obama's National Labor Relations Board sued the state. She joined other states in suing Obama's EPA over heavy-handed regulatory burdens and defended South Carolina's tough illegal immigration laws from D.C. meddling.
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Source: 2024 Presidential campaign website NikkiHaley.com
Larry Elder on Social Security
: Feb 17, 2023
Clock is ticking on unsustainable program
During President Joe Biden's State of the Union speech, he got booed after accusing "some" Republicans of seeking to "sunset" some of the so-called entitlements. Biden said: "Instead of making the wealthy pay their fair share, some Republicans ... want
Medicare and Social Security to sunset... Anybody who doubts it, contact my office. I'll give you a copy. I'll give you a copy of the proposal."But it is equally true that both Democratic Presidents Barack Obama and
Bill Clinton called Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security--without reforms--"unsustainable." Were those Democratic presidents seeking to "sunset" these programs?
Both Republican and Democrat presidents concede that without reforms these programs are "unsustainable," yet members of both parties attack reform as "risky" and "irresponsible." Meanwhile, the clock keeps ticking.
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Source: Presidential 2024 campaign press release:Sunset Entitlements
Joe Biden on Social Security
: Feb 7, 2023
Public commitment from both parties: no cuts to entitlements
Biden has won praise for an exchange with Republican hecklers during his State of the Union address when he suggested the GOP had agreed not to make cuts to Social Security and Medicare.During his speech [Republicans shouted "No!" when Biden
mentioned a sunset plan, and Biden responded], "As we all apparently agree, Social Security and Medicare is off the books now, right?" Biden said. "We got unanimity!" Biden shouted over cheers in the chamber.
That moment led to praise from social
media users, who argued that Biden had successfully baited Republicans into making a public commitment not to cut Social Security and Medicare. [One OpEd writer] wrote: "Dark Brandon gets Republicans to cheerily promise not to cut Social Security and
Medicare live during the #SOTU speech!"
"This rather savvy usage of the public bully pulpit, in a nutshell, is the argument for continuing to have and televise SOTU," tweeted 2020 Pulitzer prize nominee Soraya McDonald, sharing a video of the moment.
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Source: Newsweek Magazine on 2023 State of the Union speech
Mike Pence on Health Care
: Sep 22, 2020
Medicare & Medicaid greatest threat to those under 40
In a The Indianapolis Star letter to the editor Mike Pence wrote, "The most ominous consequence of a universal drug benefit could be that it will usher in the beginning of socialized medicine in America." [Indianapolis Star, 6/26/03]
Pence termed entitlement programs such as Medicare and Medicaid as 'the greatest threat there is to those under the age of 40.'
He said Medicare and Medicaid in their current forms 'threaten the economic vitality of future generations' and are currently 'fraught with waste, fraud and abuse.'
He recommended states be put in charge of Medicaid programs." [Decatur Daily Democrat, 4/28/11]
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Source: Trump Research Book on Mike Pence
Bernie Sanders on Health Care
: Apr 2, 2019
State-by-state Medicaid expansion is a major step
As Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly urges lawmakers to expand Medicaid, Senate President Susan Wagle said, "The governor just called for the Senate to pass a bill that Bernie Sanders--a socialist--endorsed. And that's not going to happen in the Kansas Senate."
Kelly, who has made expansion her signature issue, said in the expansion debate the term "study" has come to mean "stall."The House vote to approve expansion in March attracted national attention. Sanders, a Democratic presidential candidate, called
it a "major step." But since then, the Senate hasn't taken action on the legislation.
If Kansas increases eligibility in the program, which provides health coverage to low-income individuals and individuals with disabilities, to 138% of the
federal poverty level, then the federal government will pay for 90% of the cost. For a family of four, that's $35,535 a year. The state's share of the cost of expansion has been estimated at somewhere between $34 million and $47 million a year.
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Source: Wichita Eagle, "Medicaid," on 2020 Democratic primary
Ron DeSantis on Health Care
: Oct 9, 2018
Repeal ObamaCare; health care isn't a right
Q: Support or Repeal ACA, aka ObamaCare? Accept ACA's Medicaid expansion to subsidize low-income participants?Ron DeSantis (R): Voted to repeal ACA. No FL Medicaid expansion. Says health care isn't a right. The right is to pursue the
type of healthcare you want. ObamaCare infringes on that.
Andrew Gillum (D): Support & strengthen ACA, guarantee care for pre-existing conditions, expand Medicaid in Florida. Work toward "Medicare for all."
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Source: 2018 CampusElect.org Issue Guide on Florida Governor race
Tim Walz on Health Care
: Oct 9, 2018
Single-payer system is on Minnesota's horizon
Q: Support or Repeal Affordable Care Act (ObamaCare)? Accept ACA's Medicaid expansion to subsidize low-income participants?Jeff Johnson (R): Repeal; move toward "a more free-market system."
Tim Walz (D): Support. Opposes attempts to roll back ACA.
Believes single payer type system "is on Minnesota's horizon," but need to control immediate costs, improve care, and support MinnesotaCare as best current option. Also supports allowing people to buy into programs like VA system, Medicaid & Medicare.
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Source: 2018 CampusElect.org Issue Guide on Minnesota Governor race
Ron DeSantis on Health Care
: Aug 31, 2018
No right to health care; that's just a bureaucratic right
[Democratic gubernatorial opponent Andrew] Gillum has campaigned on a platform of "Medicare for all" that a key supporter, U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders, has pushed at the federal level. He also says universal health care is a right. Much of that platform
will be difficult to achieve with a Republican-controlled Legislature, where leaders in the House have rejected Medicaid expansion after protracted battles.DeSantis hasn't laid out a specific platform on health care and has said little about
health care policy. His issues page on his website, which was published a week before the primary, doesn't include the subject. In a debate with GOP primary opponent Adam Putnam, he indicated health care wasn't a right.
"What I think you have a right
to do is pursue the type of health care you want. ObamaCare infringes on your freedom to be able to do that," DeSantis said. "Democrats are saying that there's a bureaucratic right where you create bureaucracies."
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Source: Orlando Sentinel on 2018 Florida gubernatorial race
Joe Biden on Social Security
: Aug 7, 2018
Freeze entitlements; don't favor special interests
Biden toured the country in 1985 chiding groups like unions and farmers for being too narrowly focused and complained that Democrats too often "think in terms of special interests first and the greater interest second."
In the latter case, Biden was specifically complaining about their opposition to his calls for a spending freeze on entitlements and an increase in the retirement age.
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Source: Jacobin Magazine on 2020 presidential hopefuls
Kamala Harris on Social Security
: Aug 31, 2016
Oppose entitlement cuts; strengthen these safety nets
Strengthening Social Security & Medicare: Social Security and Medicare are the bedrock of our social contract. Together, these safety net programs keep millions of seniors and people living with disabilities out of poverty.
While some in Washington have voted to balance the budget on the backs of seniors, Kamala would oppose cuts to Social Security and Medicare, and believes we need to strengthen these safety nets.
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Source: 2016 California Senate campaign website, KamalaHarris.org
Chris Christie on Budget & Economy
: Nov 10, 2015
Hillary is coming for your wallet
Wait 'til you see what Hillary Clinton will do to this country and how she will drown us in debt. We spend 71 cents of every dollar in America on entitlements and debt service. Our plan will save over $1 trillion over the next 10 years and make sure that
Social Security and Medicare are there for those who truly need it. But the bottom line is, believe me, Hillary Clinton's coming for your wallet, everybody. Don't worry about Huckabee or Jindal, worry about her.
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Source: Fox Business/WSJ Second Tier debate
Chris Christie on Welfare & Poverty
: Aug 6, 2015
12-point entitlement reform plan, including benefit cuts
Q: You say that to save the system that you have to cut benefits for Social Security and Medicare, and you say that some of the candidates here on the stage are lying. Governor Huckabee says he can maintain benefits; is he lying?CHRISTIE: No, he's not
lying, he's just wrong. I'm the only guy on this stage who's put out a detailed, 12 point plan on entitlement reform and here's why--because 71% of federal spending right now is on entitlements, and debt service. If we don't deal with this problem,
it will bankrupt our country, or lead to massive tax increases, neither one that we want in this country.
HUCKABEE: Whose fault is it that the system is screwed up? Is it the recipients, or is it the government?
If Congress wants to mess with the retirement program, why don't we let them start by changing their retirement program, and not have one?
CHRISTIE: I don't disagree with ending Congress' retirement program. I'm a governor, I don't have a retirement pr
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Source: Fox News/Facebook Top Ten First Tier debate transcript
Chris Christie on Government Reform
: Jul 5, 2015
Reform instead of tax increases
71% of federal spending in this year's budget are on entitlements and debt service. If we don't deal with this, we can't invest in national defense. We can't invest in education.
We can't invest in infrastructure, the things that people want us to do in government. We're not going to be able to afford to do and those programs are going to go insolvent.
That's just not acceptable to me nor is a massive tax increase on the American people to pay for it.
So we need to reform these programs and we can do it and we can do it in a way that's not going to throw anybody off the cliff.
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Source: Fox News Sunday 2015 coverage of 2016 presidential hopefuls
Chris Christie on Social Security
: Jun 30, 2015
National entitlements reform package including means-testing
Christie has proposed a national entitlements reform package. His plan would include means testing for wealthy seniors so that Americans making more than $80,000 a year would get lower Social Security benefits & would pay more for Medicare health plans.
Starting in 2022, the governor would gradually raise the full retirement age for Social Security to 69, from the current age of 67 for people born after 1960. He would raise Medicare eligibility more slowly, setting it at 69 years old by the year 2064.
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Source: PBS News Hour "2016 Candidate Stands" series
Donald Trump on Health Care
: Jun 16, 2015
Don't cut Medicare; grow the economy to keep benefits
What does Donald Trump believe? Entitlements: Do not cut Social Security or Medicare benefits. Grow the economy to save those programs.The real estate tycoon told CPAC in 2013 that Republicans should not cut Social Security or Medicare because most
Americans want to keep the benefits as they stand now. His solution is unclear, but he has indicated that general economic growth would play a role. Trump tweeted in May that he knows "where to get the money from" and "nobody else does."
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Source: PBS News Hour "2016 Candidate Stands" series
Jill Stein on Drugs
: Feb 6, 2015
End the racist war on drugs and school-to-prison pipeline
We will lift up the bold solutions the American people are calling for:- Health care as a human right, not a means tested entitlement like Medicare, not a subsidized profit center for predatory insurance like Obamacare, but a Medicare for All
system to provide quality care for all while saving trillions by streamlining the massive health insurance bureaucracy;
- Quality free public education as a human right, and an end to runaway school privatizations and closings, to high stakes testing,
and student loan debt.
- A welcoming path to citizenship for immigrant residents, and an end to predatory trade deals and political interventions that created the surge of immigration to start with
- An end to the racist war on drugs and
school to prison pipeline. And a end to the militarized police, surveillance and prison state, and radical reduction of America's prison population
- An end to Wall Street bail outs and "too big to fail' banks
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Source: 2016 presidential campaign website, Jill2016.com, "Announce"
Mike Pence on Health Care
: Jan 26, 2014
Healthy Indiana: expand Medicaid but with "skin in the game"
When faced with the decision of whether to embrace Obamacare's Medicaid expansion, Pence took the money. But he did it with a conservative twist: The Healthy Indiana Plan 2.0 is built on a smaller coverage program. The program began last year and
extends coverage to low-income adults up to 138 percent of the federal poverty level. Indiana's program requires beneficiaries to pay into health savings accounts. It's based on the principle that people should have "skin in the game."
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Source: Politico.com on 2016 Indiana gubernatorial race
Nikki Haley on Health Care
: Jan 22, 2014
Reject ObamaCare state exchange; reject Medicaid expansion
Those of us who fought the President's disastrous healthcare plan have watched as predictions of lost coverage, rising costs, and unprecedented dysfunction have come true. ObamaCare is damaging to the country, and it is damaging to South Carolina.
But as a state, and as an elected government, we will not be victims in this process. We rejected the federal government's less than generous offer to run a state exchange, an offer that would have Washington bureaucrats dictating the exchange and
South Carolinians paying for it.
And, with your help, we emphatically said no to the central component of ObamaCare, the expansion of a broken Medicaid program that is already cannibalizing our budget, and would completely destroy it in the years to
come.
These were not decisions made lightly, without thought or analysis. But I am fully convinced that South Carolina will be better for them, and I pledge to you this: we will continue to fight ObamaCare every step of the way.
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Source: 2014 South Carolina State of the State Address
Donald Trump on Immigration
: Mar 15, 2013
Citizenship for illegal immigrants is a GOP suicide mission
Donald Trump said the Republican party will lose elections if it reforms the nation's entitlement programs and will hand
Democrats 11 million votes if Congress grants citizenship to illegal immigrants, likening the reform efforts to a "suicide mission."
"The fact is 11 million people will be voting Democratic. You can be out front. You can be the spearhead. You can do whatever you want to do, but every one of those 11 million people will be voting Democratic," he said. "It is just the way it
works.""You have to be very, very careful, because you could say that to a certain extent the odds aren't looking so great for Republicans, that you are on a suicide mission," he said. "You are just not going to get those votes."
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Source: 2013 Conservative Political Action Conf. in Washington Times
Donald Trump on Social Security
: Mar 15, 2013
Cannot change Medicare or Soc.Sec. and still win elections
[At CPAC, Trump said}: "As Republicans, if you think you are going to change very substantially for the worse Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security in any substantial way, and at the same time you think you are going to win elections, it
just really is not going to happen," Mr. Trump said, adding that polls show that tea partyers are among those who don't want their entitlements changed. "What we have to do and the way we solve our problems it to build a great economy."
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Source: 2013 Conservative Political Action Conf. in Washington Times
Jill Stein on Social Security
: Dec 21, 2011
Social Security is not in crisis; and it's not a handout
Q: How do you feel about privatizing Social Security?A: Social Security needs to be protected. People have put into Social Security--it is not an entitlement program in that sense. It is not a free lunch, not a government handout--it's a return on
what people have put into it. It's critical to elders--their resources are being drained. Debt among elders is skyrocketing--we can hardly afford to trim back Social Security as would happen in a privatized system.
We would challenge the very notion that Social Security is in crisis mode warranting messing with its foundations. It's not in crisis at all.
Q: Do you support raising the cap on
Social Security deductions, above the current limit of $106,000?
A: The cap could be lifted to ensure that Social Security should be solvent m without question forever.
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Source: 2011 OnTheIssues interview with Jill Stein
Donald Trump on Health Care
: Dec 5, 2011
Kill ObamaCare before it becomes a trillion-ton weight
Obamacare can't be reformed, salvaged, or fixed. It's that bad. Obamacare has to be killed now before it grows into an even bigger mess, as it inevitably will. Obamacare takes full effect in 2014. If it's not repealed before then, it will be more than
just another failed government entitlement program--it will be the trillion-ton weight that finally takes down our economy forever.
Obamacare is a heat-seeking missile that will destroy jobs & small businesses; it will explode health-care costs; and it will lead to health care that is far less innovative than it is today. Every argument that you'd make against socialism you can make
against socialized health care, and any candidate who isn't 100% committed to scrapping Obamacare is not someone America should elect president. Repealing Obamacare may be one of the most important and consequential actions our next president takes.
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Source: Time to Get Tough, by Donald Trump, p.121-122
Donald Trump on Social Security
: Dec 5, 2011
Social Security isn't an "entitlement"; it's honoring a deal
Social Security faces a problem: 77 million baby boomers set to retire. Now I know there are some Republicans who would be just fine with allowing these programs to wither and die on the vine. The way they see it, Social Security and Medicare are
wasteful "entitlement programs." But people who think this way need to rethink their position. It's not unreasonable for people who paid into a system for decades to expect to get their money's worth--that's not an "entitlement," that's honoring a deal.
We as a society must also make an ironclad commitment to providing a safety net for those who can't make one for themselves.Social Security is here to stay. To be sure, we must reform it, root out the fraud, make it more efficient, and ensure that the
program is solvent.
Same goes for Medicare. Again, people have lived up to their end of the bargain and paid into the program in good faith. Of course they believe they're "entitled" to receive the benefits they paid for--they are!
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Source: Time to Get Tough, by Donald Trump, p. 68-69
Chris Christie on Social Security
: Jun 15, 2011
We're in trouble due to overspending on entitlement programs
Q: Why do you think America got itself into such a terrible mess economically? What do you think was the problem?
A: Greed. And because no one wanted to tell anybody the truth. The truth was you can't continue to spend the kind of money our spending on all these entitlement programs.
I think we need more people in public life who are willing to say no, we can't afford certain things, no we can't do certain things, we've got to wind up being honest with people.
I think we got ourselves in this mess because some people in the financial industry became incredibly short-sighted and greedy and we had government officials who refused to say no.
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Source: Interview on CNN "Piers Morgan Tonight"
Mike Pence on Social Security
: Sep 26, 2010
Reform Social Security to ensure its solvency
Q: What about entitlement spending? Are you going to raise the retirement age as Boehner suggested might be a good idea on Social Security?A: We'd keep our promises to seniors and near seniors, but for Americans under the age of 40, we absolutely
have to begin to reform Medicare and Social Security in ways that'll ensure its long-term fiscal solvency. But let me assure you, the Pledge to America Republican reform agenda] is not the end-all, be-all, it's meant to be a good start.
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Source: Meet the Press 2010 interview of Mike Pence
Mike Pence on Social Security
: Aug 8, 2010
Down-the-road raising of the Social Security retirement age
Top Republican leaders in the House offered a fairly strong signal on Sunday that they would favor a down-the-road raising of the Social Security retirement age as part of an effort to revamp the entitlement program. Later during the "Meet the Press"
program, Mike Pence was asked if he supported the idea. The Indiana Republican stammered around for a bit, echoing the same talking point concerning the need for "an adult conversation about domestic spending and entitlements."
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Source: Huffington Post, "Retirement Age": 2016 Veepstakes
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