Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson suggested that Americans who “really don’t need” Social Security should “voluntarily opt-out” of their benefits as a way to save funding during an interview Monday with CNN’s John Berman.
Carson stated that he felt a little bad about taking Social Security away from Americans who have worked hard to earn it, but added that he would “be delighted” to give his back if it made America better down the road.
CARSON: We’re looking at a number of different ways to save Social Security. It’s now scheduled to run out of money in 2033. We really don’t want that to happen… I would love for people to voluntarily opt-out of it. That would nice, indeed… If people earned something, I’m a little reticent to just take it from them. I would prefer that they would, as a contribution to their nation — if they really don’t need it — make a sacrifice for someone else. I think there’s plenty of precedent for that type of attitude in America… Not only would I be delighted to give it back, but for many, many years, I’ve been giving a lot of money trying to better our country.