Page 18 - 16th Amendment News Today : Breaking News, Live Updates & Top Stories | Vimarsana

Fortunately we don't have to memorize the constitution, but can you remind me of what the other ones are? >> well the 14th guarantees due process and equal protection under the law and defines citizenship. it's been a big issue on the campaign trail this year. and the 16th amendment is the federal income tax, obviously a pretty big topic. i'm sure most of us get confused on which amendment is which, i certainly do. but most of us aren't running for senate and most of us don't claim to be constitutional experts as christine o'donnell has come close to doing just that. listen. >> what responsibi...

>> 14th amendment defines citizenship and the 16th amendment -- >> oh. >> i think you should know the 16th amendment. federal income tax. >> okay. >> o'donnell's gaffe is just one of the stories making news from the campaign trail this morning. let's check in with mark preston, cnn politics.com desk. makes you uncomfortable hearing that, mark. >> it does. you know, the problem for christine o'donnell is she has portrayed herself as aex pert of the constitution and of course as a tea party candidate she talked about how the tea party would like to see how the constitution is interpreted. she's ...

Prohibited religious tests for holding public office and as coons pointed out, numerous supreme court decisions have fleshed out what the first and other amendments mean in practice, what she got right was the technicality. what a lot of people think she missed was everything else. she also had a tough time today remember something of the other amendments. when asked if she like some other tea party candidates supported changing or repeal ing the 14th, 16th or 17th amendments, she said she didn't want to change the 17th amendment but clearly didn't know what the other amendments were. listen. ...

Running for senate the first amendment, that's an easy. that's a gimme, that's stuff everybody learned in seventh and eighth grade. i realize that we're not all constitutional experts, but if we're going to have the same standard applying to christine o'donnell, it also needs to be applicable to chris coons as well. >> fair point. everybody has to be judged by the same standard. you know, it's hard to evaluate something like this in a way that makes -- that is fair criticism but you don't want to sound like a jerk. i had to look up the 16th amendment. i didn't remember the 16th amendment off t...

>> well the 14th guarantees due process and equal protection under the law and defines citizenship. it's been a big issue on the campaign trail this year. and the 16th amendment is the federal income tax, obviously a pretty big topic. i'm sure most of us get confused on which amendment is which, i certainly do. but most of us aren't running for senate and most of us don't claim to be constitutional experts as christine o'donnell has come close to doing just that. listen. >> what responsibilities or experiences in jobs and past activities do you feel qualify you to be a senator? >> well, for on...