Hillary Clinton: Social Security "Not A Luxury," "We Do Not Mess With It"

Hillary Clinton answers a question about Social Security at her first campaign stop in New Hampshire for 2016.





HILLARY CLINTON: There's a lot of loose talk about Social Security, and I do not know how people can make some of the arguments they make. Because if you look at how dependent so many people are on their social security, they worked hard for it, they retire, they postpone retirement as long as possible because they want to keep working, but they also want to get the maximum amount of payout from Social Security. The Social Security trust fund, according to the trustees, will be solvent until 2035. So what do we do to make sure it is there, and we do not mess with it, and we do not pretend that it is a luxury, because it is not a luxury.



It is a necessity for the majority of people who draw from Social Security. So I think there will be some big political arguments about Social Security. And my only question to everybody who thinks we can privatize Social Security or undermine it in some way -- and what is going to happen to all these people who worked 27 years at the southern company? What is going to happen? It is just wrong. Everybody take a deep breath.