On the recordMay 23, 2011
Mr. President, I come to the Senate floor for the second time because I am highly concerned. For the last 31 years, I have been running a manufacturing business in Oshkosh, WI. During all of that time, I have been a very careful observer about what has been happening here in Washington. I have been watching how broken and unworkable our government has become. I have been here now for 4\1/2\ months. Nothing I have seen has changed my mind. Our political process here in Washington is broken. So here is my specific concern: There seems to be a growing assumption in this town that eventually--probably at the very last minute--some kind of grand bargain is going to be struck and we will actually increase the debt ceiling limit. That would be great. It will be absolutely great if that would happen--if the administration would get serious and work with Republicans to actually address the serious fiscal issues that face this Nation. But I am not so sure we can count on that. The fact is the Democrat-controlled Senate has not passed a budget for 754 days. I don't believe we need any further evidence that our budget process in this Chamber is broken. So, in my mind, not raising the debt ceiling is a very real possibility. I am afraid this administration is totally ignoring that possibility. It appears it has absolutely no plan B. It has no contingency plan. As I mentioned, I have been running a business for the last 31 years.…





