Northwest Iowa — Former Vice President Mike Pence plans to visit each of Iowa’s 99 counties before the Iowa Caucuses early next year and he’s making stops in western Iowa over the next couple of days.
Pence will make stops in Sioux Center, Le Mars, Sioux City, Holstein and Neola this week and he’ll be back in Iowa next week to appear along with several other candidates at an event hosted by The Family Leader. Pence’s next opportunity to reach a nationwide audience is likely the first televised debate for GOP candidates in August. Pence’s campaign has not yet indicated he’s met the fundraising threshold to qualify for the debate, but during an interview with Radio Iowa Tuesday, Pence indicated he will be on the debate stage.
Pence visited Ukraine late last week and he told Ukraine’s president the U.S. will support his country until victory over Russia is achieved.
Pence says he understands the concern of many Americans that the war hs stretched into its 16th month, but Pence says the Biden Administration has been slow in providing the military hardware Ukraine needs for its fight.
Before he was vice president, Pence served one term as Indiana’s governor. He appointed one of the Indiana Supreme Court justices who ruled last week that Indiana’s 2022 abortion ban doesn’t violate the state’s constitution.
Pence says that means presidential candidates who are elected by the American people should support a federal law on abortion. He’s called for a nationwide ban on abortion after the 15th week of pregnancy.
Pence has also called for entitlement reform. As an Indiana congressman in 2005, Pence supported President George W. Bush’s plan to let younger workers invest payroll taxes for Social Security in private savings accounts instead, but the Republican-led congress never took a vote on the idea. Pence says 15 years later, Americans understand the trajectory of the national debt must be addressed.
Pence says polling data shows Gen Xers and Millenials “would be very open” to the kind of changes he’s discussing. A survey conducted for a financial services company two years ago found 83 percent of Americans born between 1965 and 1985 believe Social Security will run out of money in their lifetimes.
Pence says raising the retirement age for Social Security should be considered, but any changes should be phased in. He also says there should be no changes for those who are 25 years away from the current retirement age for Social Security and Medicare.
