Last night, Lawrence O’Donnell challenged Rep. Bob Goodlatte’s (R-VA) knowledge of the Constitution, after Goodlatte boasted of his plans to read the document in its entirety on the House floor Thursday.
Goodlatte — who will become the first congressman to read the Constitution in its entirety on the House floor — says it will “begin the process of debating” the meaning and role of the Constitution today.
Goodlatte also commented on the new rules in the House, saying they will require that “all bills introduced in the Congress state the basis in the Constitution — the section of the Constitution — upon which that introducer of the bill relies in introducing it.”
But O’Donnell wasn’t satisfied to leave it at that. He brought up a bill Goodlatte introduced to censor the Internet to his decency standards. The Supreme Court eventually ruled it unconstitutional, saying it violated the First Amendment.
And O’Donnell also pressed Goodlatte on voting for an increase in the minimum wage without looking into the constitutionality of doing so.
“You voted for an increase in something that you don’t even know has constitutional authority to exist?” O’Donnell asked him.
“That’s correct,” Goodlatte said.
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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
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