Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.
We must also confront the larger challenge of mandatory spending, or entitlements.
This year, the first of about 78 million baby boomers turns 60, including two of my dad's favorite people: me and President Clinton.
(LAUGHTER)
(APPLAUSE)
This milestone is more than a personal crisis.
(LAUGHTER)
It is a national challenge.
BUSH: The retirement of the baby boom generation will put unprecedented strains on the federal government. By 2030, spending for Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid alone will be almost 60 percent of the entire federal budget. And that will present future Congresses with impossible choices: staggering tax increases, immense deficits or deep cuts in every category of spending.
Congress did not act last year on my proposal to save Social Security...
(APPLAUSE)
... yet the rising cost of entitlements is a problem that is not going away.
BUSH: And with every year we fail to act, the situation gets worse.
So tonight I ask you to join me in creating a commission to examine the full impact of baby boom retirements on Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.
This commission should include members of Congress of both parties and offer bipartisan solutions. We need to put aside partisan politics and work together and get this problem solved.
(APPLAUSE)
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