What are Trump and Clinton’s plans to stabilize Social Security? It’s not clear

Fact checks
Oct. 19, 2016, 8:34 p.m.

What are Trump and Clinton’s plans to stabilize Social Security? It’s not clear

Michael Finnegan

Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump both sidestepped a question in Wednesday’s debate about how to stabilize Social Security to avert benefit cuts as funding dwindles in the decades ahead.

Both have vowed to oppose benefit cuts. But as moderator Chris Wallace pointed out, the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, a nonpartisan fiscal monitor, has concluded that neither candidate has a viable plan to shore up Social Security.

Wallace asked whether either of them would accept a “grand bargain” of tax hikes and benefit cuts to sustain Social Security and Medicare.

“I’m cutting taxes,” Trump answered. “We’re going to grow the economy. It’s going to grow at a record rate.”

Clinton vowed to use tax hikes on the wealthy to bolster Social Security and “enhance benefits for low-income workers and women who have been disadvantaged” by the current system.

The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget analyzed both candidates’ fiscal plans and found that Clinton would increase the national debt by $200 billion over a decade and Trump’s would increase it by $5.3 trillion.