Gov.-elect Paul LePage (R-ME) on Monday tried to walk back his claim that if 35 states join a lawsuit against the federal government, the health care law “dies automatically.”
It turns out it’s not quite that simple. No such provision exists in the Constitution. So LePage’s spokesman Dan Demeritt explained what he really meant to say.
As the Portland Press Herald reports
“His intent was to discuss the concept of broad-based political opposition, rather than a nonexistent statutory or constitutional trigger.”
Demeritt added that LePage was also referring to a recently-introduced (and super long shot) measure that seeks to amend the Constitution so that 35 states could get together and scrap federal laws.
LePage — for the uninitiated — is the Tea Partier who during his campaign made TPM’s “short fuse” list of politicians most likely to cross the line and actually knock someone out.
David Taintor
David Taintor is TPM’s News Editor. He contributes to TPM’s Livewire coverage, among other areas. David is from Chanhassen, Minnesota, where, yes, it gets very cold. Reach him at taintor [at] talkingpointsmemo.com
Disqus Conversations
Click here to read the Disqus Commenting FAQ.