By STEVE BRAWNER
Whoever wins this year’s U.S. Senate race in Arkansas will take the oath of office amidst unprecedented fiscal challenges.
The national debt has surpassed $40 trillion, equal to about $117,000 for every American. The government is spending more than $2 trillion more than it is collecting this fiscal year.
Meanwhile, the Congressional Budget Office projects that Social Security’s retirement trust fund will become insolvent in mid-2032. This will occur before the end of the senator’s upcoming term. The result could be 26% benefit cuts for recipients unless Congress takes action.
What do Arkansas’ three U.S. Senate candidates – Republican Sen. Tom Cotton, Democrat Hallie Shoffner and Libertarian Jeff Wadlin – think about these issues? I asked them, and here’s what they said.
Cotton says Washington needs more spending discipline and also economic growth to get deficits under control. He said growth would generate tax revenues and tame inflation, resulting in lower interest rates paid by the government and by Arkansans.
He said the tax cuts in President Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act passed by Congress last year will foster economic growth. He referenced the bill’s increased standard deduction, child tax credits, tax cuts on Social Security benefits, and tax cuts for business investments.
A strong economy is also the key for Social Security because more workers would pay payroll taxes to support retirees, he said. He also seeks reforms to Social Security Disability Insurance, which he said is beset by fraud. Serving the truly disabled would buy time for Social Security’s senior citizen trust fund.
Asked about other potential Social Security solutions such as raising the retirement age, Cotton said he didn’t see the need to do that. He would be open to giving Arkansans more choices in claiming Social Security earlier or later.
“I’m committed to making sure that every Arkansan who’s worked hard their entire life and paid into Social Security gets the benefits they’ve earned,” he said.
Shoffner, the Democratic candidate, said she is the mother of a seven-year-old who is inheriting the $40 trillion debt. She said Americans should consider where the government is spending money: Iran; bailing out Argentina; bombing what the Trump administration said were drug boats in South America; Trump’s proposed $1.5 trillion defense budget; and building projects in Washington.
She said the government should instead prioritize rural infrastructure and hospitals, improving Medicare, and fully funding Social Security. On the revenue side, she said the government should consider taxing billionaires’ “money that makes money.” She would not have voted for the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, but she favors tax relief for small businesses.
“I think the basic fix is actually electing someone who understands that you have to bring in revenue and spend your money wisely,” she said.
Regarding Social Security, she said Congress should close some of the loopholes the wealthy use to avoid paying taxes. She said her parents paid into the system as small business owners. Her dad put much of his salary back into the business and isn’t drawing as much as her mom. Now he needs expensive memory care for which Medicare doesn’t pay.
Wadlin, the Libertarian, called for stopping Trump’s tariffs, ending the Iran war, and passing a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution. He said the government’s default position of always accruing more debt must change.
“The default position needs to be, the federal government needs to balance its checkbook just like families and businesses and the states do,” he said.
He supports the idea of tax cuts, but they must come in the context of a balanced budget.
As for Social Security, Wadlin said one part of the solution would probably have to be
raising the $184,500 income cap above which wage earners don’t pay taxes.
However, Wadlin said the government can’t break promises it has made to current Social Security beneficiaries and to Americans who have been receiving their statements through the years. Plus, raising the income cap alone won’t be enough to fix Social Security’s long-term problems.
He likes the new “Trump accounts.” Those create a tax-advantaged savings account for children and provide an initial $1,000 for newborns.
Wadlin proposes giving every newborn $10,000 that would be invested in an index fund that grows until they retire. Such a system could result in much higher retirement savings and potentially allow the government to phase out payroll taxes.
Those are the three candidates’ answers when asked about the $40 trillion national debt and Social Security. Have your say by casting a ballot Nov. 3.
Steve Brawner’s column is syndicated to 24 news outlets in Arkansas. Email him at brawnersteve@mac.com.
Discover more from
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
