Haley's policy talk is reminiscent of a bygone era before the rise of Trump

Nikki Haley pitches voters on policies that recall an era when the Republican Party stood for fiscal conscience and foreign policy leadership, at a time when the most hallowed federal programs and the international alliances that built the post-World War II era , to be under pressure. enormous tension.

But the voice of contemporary Republican politics, Donald J. Trump, has been there virtually every day to attack these calls. On Tuesday, New Hampshire voters can decide whether the party can find a way back from Trump's big policies at home and his isolationism abroad.

Ms. Haley's proposals to raise the retirement age for young workers and cut benefits for the wealthy while protecting Social Security and Medicare benefits for those at or near retirement may be familiar to voters with any historical memory. the ears ring. These are essentially the same plans that Mitt Romney and his running mate Paul D. Ryan pitched in the losing 2012 presidential campaign, and which echo then-President George W. Bush's failed attempts to transform Social Security from a federal guaranteed pension. system to something more akin to a private 401(k) plan.

Mr. Romney's 2012 proposals came from the bipartisan commission formed to address the budget deficit during Barack Obama's presidency. The recommendations led nowhere.

Ms. Haley's calls to support NATO and support Ukraine reflect the foreign policy of every president since World War II, but especially of Republicans, Ronald Reagan and George HW Bush.

But Trump has been relentless in his attacks on all those policies. His continued suggestions that he could withdraw the United States from NATO prompted President Biden to announce llegislation that prevents the president from unilaterally resigning the North Atlantic Alliance.

At a rally in Concord, N.H., Friday evening, he portrayed Ms. Haley as someone who wants to “wipe out your Social Security,” raise the retirement age to 75, “and then you're dead.”

a radio advertisement placed in New Hampshire said Friday that Ms. Haley's “cunning plan” would “shockingly change the rules for federal programs for older Americans” by raising the retirement age. a television advertisement, titled “Threat From Within” and posted the day before Retirees looked shocked to hear that “Haley's plan will cut Social Security benefits for 82 percent of Americans,” before being reassured: “Trump will never let that happen.”

The advertisements are false. The 82 percent figure comes from the total number of Americans eligible for Social Security, and Ms. Haley has repeatedly said she would not change anything for current recipients or those close to qualifying.

Republicans are used to coming under fire for the kinds of ideas Ms. Haley puts forward. But this time it comes from the de facto leader of the party.

“Anytime you discuss Social Security in a rational way, you're immediately abandoned, usually by the left,” said Judd Gregg, a retired Republican senator from New Hampshire who has focused on long-term deficit reduction. main goal in Congress. “But in this case it belongs to Donald Trump.”

Mr. Trump and his Republican allies in Congress have implemented their own form of fiscal discipline, with ending aid to Ukraine and other cuts in domestic spending seen as deficit reduction.

In reality, mathematically speaking, their target for spending cuts could never make a dent in the federal budget deficit is expected to rise to nearly $1.7 trillion in the fiscal year ending September 30, up from $1.4 trillion in fiscal year 2023.

About 85 percent of the federal budget goes to Social Security, Medicare and other entitlement programs such as veterans benefits, the military and interest on the national debt — none of which are on Trump's target list. That leaves only 15 percent of total spending for education, law enforcement, transportation, medical and other scientific research, energy, national parks and foreign aid.

And with interest rates at their current high levels, even liberal economists worry that if Washington doesn't tackle the red ink, the rising costs of servicing the nation's debt will crowd out other programs, undermine private investment and push the nation's debt to the limit. will harm in the long term. future. Last year, interest payments totaled $659 billion, the fourth largest item in the federal budget.

“Ten years from now, the government will spend more on interest on the national debt than on defense,” warned Thomas Kahn, the Democratic staff director on the House Budget Committee for 20 years. “The reality is that the national debt is out of control and both parties will have to make politically painful decisions.”

Ms. Haley has not raised the ultimate painful decision for Republicans, raising taxes, but she has repeatedly bashed Mr. Trump for adding $8 trillion to the federal debt during his time in office after he left office campaign of 2016 had promised that he would not just balance the budget. but would pay off the debt, which was greater $34 trillion during the holiday period.

These attacks appear to have dealt only a glancing blow to Trump's dominance. The former president won Monday's Iowa caucuses by a landslide, with Ms. Haley in a distant third. Opinion polls point to a narrower victory for Trump in New Hampshire on Tuesday, and then a steep uphill climb for Ms. Haley ahead of the South Carolina primary next month in her home state.

But like a modern-day Cassandra, Ms. Haley has not backed away from her warnings that the nation must act now to rationally limit spending on the largest government programs, Social Security and Medicare, or face more painful, chaotic cuts in the future. get to make.

“I've seen the commercials you've seen,” she told voters in Rochester, N.H., on Wednesday. “I will always tell you the truth.”

The truth is not pretty. The two-party That's what social security trustees say If nothing is done, the main social security program, the Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund, will deplete its reserves in 2033, which could spell the end of a second Haley term. At that point, social security would only depend on the money that comes from taxes every year. Promised benefits should be cut by 23 percent, not for future retirees that Ms. Haley wants to target, but for those already receiving benefits.

“The only person who wants to cut Social Security is Trump,” said Nachama Soloveichik, Haley's campaign director. “Trump's refusal to save Social Security means that 100 percent of Americans will face a 23 percent cut in Social Security benefits in less than a decade.”

Steven Cheung, a spokesman for the Trump campaign, dismissed such criticism as further evidence of Trump's righteousness.

“Nikki Haley is spiraling out of control and is now resorting to outright lies because she knows her position of raising the Social Security age and lowering pensions is an untenable position,” he said. “She should look deep inside and really examine why she wants to throw hardworking Americans off a financial cliff.”