GOP Senators: Raise Retirement Age to 70

The Hill reports:

Three Republican senators on Wednesday will propose a Social Security reform package that would raise the retirement age to 70 and cut benefits for the wealthy.

Sens. Lindsey Graham (S.C.), Rand Paul (Ky.) and Mike Lee (Utah) previewed their proposal on Fox News, saying that it will put the entitlement program on a long-term path to solvency without raising taxes.

The senators said that their plan would gradually raise the retirement age from 67 to 70 and would not affect individuals age 56 or older. Graham said that the proposal uses the same formula Congress used to raise the retirement age from 65 to 67, so that people born in 1970 would become the first group to have a retirement age of 70.

The proposal comes on the same day that President Obama is expected to unveil his deficit reduction plan in a major speech in Washington.

While Obama is expected to address Medicare and Medicaid reform, Democrats and other GOP lawmakers, including Rep. Paul Ryan (Wis.), have not yet put forth a plan that directly addresses Social Security, whose trust fund is expected to become insolvent by 2037.

Senate Democrats have openly opposed Social Security reform, with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) saying recently that he would not be in favor of making changes to the program for decades.