GOFFSTOWN, N.H.—Speaking at a town hall meeting tonight, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie promised to work towards entitlement reform should he become president.
“Folks will tell you in politics, ‘don’t talk about that subject,’” Christie said at the event in New Hampshire. “They call it the third rail of American politics. They say, ‘don’t touch it.’ So we’re not going to touch it, we’re going to hug it.”
He said that Americans need to have an “honest conversation” about entitlements.
“Seventy-one percent of the federal budget this year is being spent on entitlement programs,” Christie said.
He said that anyone who avoids the subject because it is “too hard” isn’t fit for national office.
Christie suggested preserving Social Security benefits by increasing the retirement age by two years, but phasing that plan in over 25 years. He argued that a gradual change begins to address the problem, while giving future retirees ample time to plan ahead.
Those who make $200,000 annually in retirement income would be ineligible to receive benefits.
Social Security, he said, is “insurance” to prevent seniors from living in poverty.
“We don’t want any of our seniors to have to choose between heating their home and going to the doctor, between buying food and paying rent,” Christie said. “They’ve worked hard, and paid into that system throughout their entire lives. We want it to be there for them. But we need to make changes to make sure it’s there.”
Christie also said that the tax code needs to be reformed. He argued the 35 percent corporate tax rate damages America’s ability to compete in a global market, and should be reduced.
In addition, Christie criticized President Obama’s foreign policy.
“If we don’t have a defense that deters our adversaries, they will continue to take advantage of us,” Christie said.
Christie also rebuked his potential GOP rival for president, Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., for leading an effort to weaken the Patriot Act.
Christie said he used the Patriot Act to prosecute terrorists during his time as U.S. attorney for New Jersey.
He claims that the program merely collects phone numbers, and that any other information must be obtained with a warrant.
“Now if you listen to Sen. Paul and Sen. [Mike] Lee and these other guys down in Washington talk about this, you would think I’m listening to the calls with your mother.” Christie said. “And that we’ve got operators at the NSA [National Security Agency] sitting there every day listening to your phone calls. We don’t. We don’t. But yet they’re taking this tool away.”
He said the congressional decision to reform the Patriot Act makes the country weaker.
Christie spent over an hour answering questions from the audience, but lightly evaded questions on student loan debt, promising to address his education policy in a speech later this week.
“I’m giving the speech on Thursday,” he joked. “No one is going to come.”
The New Jersey Republican has yet to declare his intentions for 2016, but is spending a great deal of time in the Granite State, home to the first presidential primary.
