Trump clashes with Rubio, Cruz, and Kasich on Social Security at GOP debate

Republican candidates sparred over the nation's major retirement program at the debate in Miami. They divided into two camps: on the one side Donald Trump, and on the other Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, and John Kasich. Trump noted that the Social Security funding stream is in fine shape for the next 20 years, promising that "it is my absolute intention to leave Social Security the way it is."

Cruz, Rubio, and Kasich all argued for some combination of benefit cuts, increases in the retirement age, and privatization, presenting it as a necessary response to a looming crisis. Anyone who argues that the system could be rescued in its current form is "lying," said Rubio.

On the facts, Rubio is wrong. Even the projected exhaustion of the Social Security trust fund in 2033 would still mean the system could cover 80 percent of current benefits. Therefore, a President Trump would need new taxes of about 1 percent of GDP to cover the shortfall indefinitely.

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