ICYMI: Eric Hovde Wants to Raise the Retirement Age

MADISON, Wis. — New reporting from Up North News detailed how California bank owner Eric Hovde (R–Laguna Beach) wants to put Social Security benefits out of reach for more and more Americans by raising the retirement age to as high as 72 years.

Hovde has said he “absolutely” wants to cut Social Security benefits. Meanwhile, Tammy Baldwin has been a champion for protecting Wisconsin seniors, supporting efforts to strengthen Social Security and make it harder to privatize.

Read more below:

Up North News: Happy Birthday, Social Security!
By Pat Kreitlow

• It was 84 years ago this week that the first Social Security check was delivered to Ms. Ida May Fuller of Ludlow, Vermont. Because of Social Security, she was able to retire from her job as a legal secretary at age 65 and not worry about falling into poverty in her senior years.

• Despite eight decades of providing American workers with a retirement that’s free from the fear of growing destitute, Social Security remains in the crosshairs of some who want the program slashed or eliminated altogether—even as others work to strengthen the program and keep it reliable for today’s generation of workers.

• As Democratic Sen. Tammy Baldwin campaigns for reelection this year, expect to see her draw a distinction between her support of Social Security and the views of her likely Republican challenger, businessman Eric Hovde, who frequently refers to programs like Social Security and Medicare as “entitlements” rather than earned benefits Americans paid into throughout their working lives.

• Last time Hovde ran for Senate, he talked repeatedly about the need to put Social Security benefits further out of reach from many Americans by moving the retirement age.

•  “If you’re under 50, you’re gonna add two years to retirement age,” Hovde told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel editorial board at the time. “If you’re under 40, you’re gonna add two more years, and if you’re under 30, you’re probably gonna have to add another year.” The Social Security retirement age today for many Americans is 67.

• Baldwin, meanwhile, has proposed strengthening Social Security in ways that include raising the payroll tax cap on millionaires and billionaires and making it harder to privatize Social Security accounts.

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