Lawrence O'Donnell Yells At GOP Congressman Tom Graves About Government Shutdown (VIDEO)

Lawrence O'Donnell got into an angry argument with a Republican congressman over the impending government shutdown.

On his Thursday show, O'Donnell and Rep. Tom Graves of Georgia argued about who was to blame for the shutdown, and O'Donnell pressed Graves about the so-called "riders" in the bill that many say are the sticking point between the Democrats and the Republicans.

The "riders" are policy items attached to the overall budget that try to strip funding from certain programs. It is widely believed that it is these riders, not any argument about spending, that are what is holding up a deal between the two parties. Perhaps the key rider concerns the funding of Planned Parenthood.

O'Donnell asked Graves, "Can you vote for a bill that does not completely defund Planned Parenthood?" Graves was cagey, only saying that he wants to vote for a bill that "maximizes the savings for the American people." O'Donnell asked him repeatedly, but Graves would only say that he did not "intend" to vote for a bill that funded Planned Parenthood.

"You are willing to stop payment for the troops in order to stop any funding for Planned Parenthood," O'Donnell said. Graves objected to this, saying that the House had voted to fund the troops only that day. O'Donnell said the measure in question was nothing but a political ploy, not a serious bill.

O'Donnell then asked Graves about a bill that he said would allow the House to pass measures into law without the approval of the Senate, or even the president. O'Donnell called it an "absurdist, unconstitutional cartoon" and asked Graves how he could have voted for it. Graves said he was glad O'Donnell had mentioned the Constitution, because "nowhere in the Constitution does it say, fund Planned Parenthood." This got O'Donnell really mad. "You should be ashamed of yourself," he shouted. "Your insane bill says that the House of Representatives can pass a bill and it becomes law without the signature of the president."

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Comments

[Dunkleberger Karl]

06:54 AM on 04/17/2011

Lawrence Kicks bad peaples Butta!

[CharlesW299]

06:55 PM on 04/11/2011

Why do the repub's want to destroy the country?
I can't see how anyone can see a benefit in those 'riders'.
Graves really made my blood boil...

 

[yoli647]

03:44 PM on 04/11/2011

Good job, O'Donnell..

[RockyMissouri]

10:08 AM on 04/11/2011

Graves has the same dead eyes as Walker of Wisconsin....does not appear to be 'engaged' with the conversation...

[michael westman]

06:15 PM on 04/11/2011

Kochbots

[MCWAY]

08:45 AM on 04/11/2011

Maybe if the Dems had funded the 2011 federal budget LAST YEAR, when they had the House, Senate, and Oval Office in their hands, O'Donnell wouldn't be blowing a gasket about the liberals' precious federal funding for in-utero-baby-hacking....ahem...."women's health".

[chiara0]

08:40 AM on 04/11/2011

L.O. is to be commended for keeping his cool as well as he did. I would not do nearly so well.

[fenriswolf26]

08:26 AM on 04/11/2011

Every day, I grow more and more disbelieving that such people like Congressman Graves actually exist. This has GOT to be just one, gigantic, elaborate, in majorly poor taste episode of Punked. It just has to be.

[cowcabob]

08:02 AM on 04/11/2011

I love how people who don't want to pay for things they disagree with are considered evil and dishonest. Sounds a bit like back when those who wanted to de-fund the war effort were called Un-American.

[Lordcron]

03:32 AM on 04/11/2011

Lawrence O'Donnell's stock is going up all the time! Love this guy!

[MCWAY]

08:51 AM on 04/11/2011

Really!! Last time I checked, this guy was barely scraping a million viewers, with his numbers in the 800-900K range the last week or two.
 

[Sydroky]

01:19 PM on 04/11/2011

What does the number of viewers have to do with anything? A fallicious argument. I find it sad, and telling, that those that defend Fox News use the argumentum ad populum all the time as an argument.

[michael westman]

06:16 PM on 04/11/2011

so...using your logic...if you have more money than I do then you are the superior being?

[Saint Mammoth]

03:26 AM on 04/11/2011

Maybe we should just all vote republican until they destroy the world. They would make things so bad it would be illegal to be a republican or have any trinkets with elephants or GOP on it....Sarah Palins image would be like a swastika.

[MCWAY]

08:54 AM on 04/11/2011

I'm sorry! Didn't we have 9-10% unemployment, during all those "Hope-and-Change" years, when the Dems ran the whole kit and kaboodle (including a supermajority in the Senate)?

[MCWAY]

09:00 AM on 04/11/2011

 And, wouldn't this shutdown drama have been avoided, had team "Hope-and-Change" actually DID THEIR JOBS and passed the FY2011 budget A YEAR AGO?
 
Of course, they were too cowardly to present their budget, because they feared taking an EVEN WORSE BEATING at midterms than the one they actually got.

[Saint Mammoth]

12:53 PM on 04/11/2011

Sorry, Mcwhey but the examples of the republicans war against the poor go whey beyond the !!!!!!FY2011!!!!! budget.....

[DarkTruths]

02:25 AM on 04/11/2011

I don't necessarily think we need less government - more like an entirely new government. And I don't mean the President.

[Maderous]

01:06 AM on 04/11/2011

I like O'Donnell. I agree with him on most things and understand the passion and emotions he has. However, he has to be less emotional while on air and while debating. He will never win anyone over that way. He needs to step back and be more analytical and less emotional. Maddow is a great example. I think she has views and opinions that are just as strong as O'Donnell's but is always able argue just on the facts and without any trace of mean spirtness and without running dangerously close to making ad hominem attacks. Sometimes he is just too rude for me to enjoy.

[Saint Mammoth]

03:21 AM on 04/11/2011

We need more rudeness, more temper, more anger! What is going on is wrong, people are being railroaded and our country is evaporating. Time for debate is over!! It is time for motivation to action...

[STParker]

03:54 AM on 04/11/2011

I agree, but that anger has to be directed in such a way that it doesn't seem unfocused - not a commentary on O'Donnell's rant just a general statement.

[chino1138]

03:02 PM on 04/11/2011

Okay, so when O'Reilly does it, it's bad, but when O'Donnel does it, it's good. Got it.

[saltpeter]

08:02 AM on 04/11/2011

He needs to give the likes of Graves the rope they need to hang themselves with. And he needs to start asking EVERY Southern Republican who goes on and on about taxes and "the people's money" why it is that their states take more from the federal government than they're able to contribute because they tend to be so impoverished. The same arguments Graves makes about Planned Parenthood, on the precepts that Planned Parenthood can be made about the South.

O'Donnell and all hosts need to let Graves lay out his false logic and then say, then why doesn't your own state carry it's own weight. Ask Graves if he loved the military so much why can't he compel his state and his followers in the Tea Party to actually support that military by showing a willingness to actually pay their fair share of taxes.

The trick is to know their logic and talking points and address the issues they have yet to develop talking points for. Like how the impoverished southern red states sponge off the blue states all the time and STILL end up on the bottom in every major quality of life indicator. Planned Parenthood actually puts their government funds to good use. Being that Georgia ranks low in education results and high in poverty levels, what are they doing with all their FREE MONEY?

[RockyMissouri]

10:11 AM on 04/11/2011

Excellent comment..! Thank you...

[D-V-H]

12:32 AM on 04/11/2011

I thought the GOP said that they got rid of earmarks.

Their riders sure look like earmarks to me.

[UncleSquinky]

01:05 AM on 04/11/2011

Well, there more like anti-earmarks really. Instead of money being specifically for something, it is money being prohibited for specific things.

[Merle Michigan]

12:23 AM on 04/11/2011

Lawrence can be a pit bull when challenged with ignorance............especially by GOP lawmakers. Great work L.O. and keep it up!! (Just keep them out of the studio because you, like me, would be tempted to witch-slap them (with a 'b') when the question your intelligence!!!

[RockyMissouri]

10:12 AM on 04/11/2011

He does not suffer fools.

[joedaplumper]

11:21 PM on 04/10/2011

The main beef that Graves and his co-conspirators have is that the federal contributions to Planned Parenthood are fungible with other private funds that provide abortion services. If that is his sticking point, he should be willing to pull funding for faith-based service providers who also go out to proselytize and convert the masses. Better still, we have the U.S. Chamber of Commerce pulling in foreign contributions and turning right around and writing BIG checks to fund right wing politicians. The Republicans in Congress are even willing to export their own jobs overseas.