ms. stabenow: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from michigan. ms. stabenow: i rise to talk about what this crisis means for the businesses that i represent. i grew up in a small town, small 2340er7b town of claire, michigan, where my family ran the automobile dealership, the oldsmobile dealership and my mom was a nurse at the local hospital. my first job was washing the cars on the car lot, mr. president, and it was a time when people believed in america and the full faith and credit of america. i can't imagine, i can't imagine my parents and my grandparents ever believing that it would be possible for america to default on its obligations. but here we are today, and that is a very real possibility. it's outrageous because it does not have to be this way. we have been through a lot in michigan, mr. president, and i know you know that. we've had more people out of work than any other state in this recession, in fact, we've been hit harder, longer, deeper than any other state. we've took the brunt of the recession and people are now just starting to ge

ms. stabenow's over 300 americans that government is sending out 80 million checks a month. the government is paying it seems for almost everything in this country. that's the problem. we've got to have a complete review of what government is doing and what government shouldn't be doing. that's the key. we have to have a fundamental restructuring of how we spend money. and, unfortunately, with a plan that is being offered later this afternoon we are not making a fundamental restructuring. but again i give john boehner credit but at least the speaker is putting forward a second plan. the president of the united states has failed to put forward one. the congressional budget office said they couldn't score the president's speech because the president hasn't put forward a plan. how is that leadership? >> you were critical of the process around health care legislation so you didn't get the bill and to lay before you the chance to vote on it. have the american people have an adequate opportunity to weigh in on these debt solutions that are now before congress? >> may have had an o