First Baby Boomer Applies for Social Security

"Today marks the first drip in what promises to be a deluge of new Social Security spending -- obligations the current program, on its present course, will not be able to meet. And as bleak as the issue looks right now, it's a problem that will grow more acute by the day as Democrats continue to finance their reckless spending agenda by raiding the Social Security trust fund.

"Up until now, the extraordinary challenges posed by runaway entitlements have been expressed through theories and extrapolations. Very soon, the guessing game will end -- as in just a few short months, millions of Americans begin collecting the benefits for which they've worked their entire adult lives.

"What remains to be seen is how we put the program back on sound financial footing for the millions of younger workers paying into it right now. It's my view that we've reached a crucial time in our nation's history -- a moment that demands real leadership and hard decision-making to rein in profligate spending and ensure the program remains solvent.

"Unfortunately, the current Democratic majority has not demonstrated that kind of leadership during this session of Congress, producing a budget plan that finances billions in new spending with tax hikes and accounting gimmicks, and then crafting a series of appropriations bills that threaten to push us further to the brink. What we need right now is fiscal responsibility and a measure of austerity. What we've seen instead is fiscal recklessness and spendthrift policy-making."

NOTE: Kathleen Casey-Kirschling, a New Jersey woman generally considered to be the nation's first boomer, is expected to formally apply for Social Security benefits this afternoon, in anticipation of her 62nd birthday on January 1, 2008.

SOURCE Office of the Republican Whip