Project 2025 contributor Stephen Moore: “We want people to keep working” into their 70s
Moore: “Trump is on to something here. I think it's good politics”
Published
Citation From the July 31, 2024, edition of Fox Business' The Bottom Line
DAGEN MCDOWELL (HOST): I want to move on to this. This is hot topic today. President Trump just announced this on Truth Social: Quote, "Seniors should not pay tax on Social Security."
STEPHEN MOORE (PROJECT 2025 CONTRIBUTOR): Yes.
MCDOWELL: Signaling a shift away from legislation signed by Ronald Reagan back in 1984 to tax income from that program. Your reaction to this, Steve?
MOORE: You know, I didn't see this coming, I had talked to Trump, I remember, a few months ago, and he had sort of hinted at this idea. And I've been thinking a lot about it, and I wrote a piece for Fox Business, which will be online sometime probably in the morning.
I've decided, I think it's a good idea. And the reason is, you know, seniors — and I'm 64 now, so I guess I'm almost eligible for Social Security. We want people to keep working. We want to keep incentivizing people once they turn 65, or 66, or 70. And look at Donald Trump, what, he's 70, I don't know, 70 something, and you know, he's working seven days a week. And so, the system right now, Dagen, punishes you if you continue to work. You have to pay income taxes. You know, you're going to have to pay death taxes when you die. And you're going to have to pay a tax on your Social Security benefits. So, oftentimes seniors are paying taxes on their income of over 50%.
And so, I think Trump is on to something here. I think it's good politics, because seniors are a critical voter group. But I think it's good policy. We want people to keep working and stop taxing them to death.