Russ Wiles

The Arizona Republic

With the number of serious presidential candidates thinning out and the election drawing closer, it's getting a bit easier to see where the main contenders stand on Social Security.

The nation's retirement-income program hasn't emerged as a dominant election issue, but some of the candidates have articulated what they expect of the program, how they might change benefits or taxes or utilize other measures to shore up the program's long-term solvency. Here's how leading candidates view Social Security, based mainly on positions articulated on each contender's website at the start of March:

Hillary Clinton: Mostly more of the same

Clinton largely wants to maintain the current system. There's a pledge to preserve Social Security for future generations by "asking" the wealthiest to contribute more. Her website doesn't provide many details on how much more in taxes would be paid by wealthier Americans. Clinton also would like to expand benefits for widows and for people who took time off from jobs to care for kids or sick family members, which presumably would help women in particular.

Her position on Social Security is mostly a defensive one: Oppose cuts in cost-of-living adjustments. Oppose efforts to raise the retirement age (which ranges from 66 to 67 for most people currently employed) and oppose benefit cuts or broad tax increases. Clinton also stands against efforts to privatize the system or "attempts to gamble seniors' retirement security on the stock market."

Bernie Sanders: Significant expansion

Sanders describes Social Security as the most successful federal government program ever, and he would extend its reach. Sanders wants to increase benefits by an average of $65 a month, augment cost-of-living adjustments, or COLAs, and increase the minimum benefits for low-income seniors. To pay for all this, and to keep the program solvent another 50 years, Sanders would raise the amount of earnings subject to payroll taxes that support Social Security. Currently, the tax stops above $118,500 a year in personal income, but he would tax income above $250,000. His website doesn't spell out what tax rate, if any, would apply on income between $118,500 and $250,000.

Sanders opposes efforts to privatize the program or allow workers to choose investments. He notes that Social Security's current (but dwindling) surplus is invested in U.S. Treasury bonds, which he calls the "safest interest-bearing securities in the world." It doesn't say that those bonds are backed by future tax revenue and federal borrowings rather than by stocks, real estate or other assets. Sanders wants to keep the private sector out of Social Security. "Corporations destroyed the retirement dreams of millions over the past 30 years by eliminating defined-benefit pensions plans," the website says. "Millions of Americans lost their life savings after Wall Street's recklessness crashed the economy in 2008."

Donald Trump: Few specifics yet

Donald Trump has vaulted to the top of the Republican leader board without talking much about Social Security, which might not be a coincidence. Social Security reform is a thorny, divisive issue. Candidates can't take a strong position without alienating a lot of voters.

Trump's website focuses on five key positions and briefly discusses about a dozen other issues, but Social Security isn't among them. One of his five key positions involves cutting income taxes and simplifying the tax code. Trump also vows to create a lot more jobs if elected president. An expanding economy would generate more payroll-tax revenue to support Social Security, but that's not the same as tackling the issue head-on. Some media reports indicate Trump wants to preserve the program without reducing benefits or raising the retirement age, but we won't know specifics until he discusses Social Security in detail.

Other Republicans: Mixed bag

The GOP candidates trailing Trump offer various viewpoints. Ted Cruz's website doesn't spend much time on Social Security, though he does offer some bold tax proposals ranging from abolishing the IRS to simplifying the income-tax code with a flat tax.

Marco Rubio has one of the more clearly defined Social Security platforms. He vows to make no changes affecting people in or near retirement but wants to increase the retirement age gradually to reflect longer life expectancy. Rubio also would slow the growth rate of benefits for wealthier seniors and abolish the retirement earnings test, which he said discourages seniors from working without addressing Social Security's solvency. (This test withholds some benefits for younger seniors below normal retirement age who continue to work and earn too much money, though they recoup the withheld benefits later.)

Rubio also would open up the federal Thrift Savings Plans to non-government workers. This program resembles a 401(k) program that, notably, features an assortment of stock and bond mutual funds — not just government bonds of the type held by Social Security.

More Social Security views

AARP is compiling candidate statements on Social Security as the campaign progresses. Read more statements under “view more” at: http://takeastand.aarp.org/?cmp=RDRCT-TAS-MAIN

Reach the reporter at russ.wiles@arizonarepublic.com or 602-444-8616.