well, erin, i certainly hope not. that doesn t seem to be what i m feeling down here. i ll tell you, we have been working very hard to get the government open again. in fact, my freshman colleagues and i were sent down here to get government working. if the american people have any doubt that it s working well, then i ll let you know that we were the first class in the history of the united states to be sworn in during a government shutdown, so here s a report from the field. government is not working. you know, what to do about it, though? should your democratic colleagues, the ones the president called and said, hey, come on over, should they have gone to the white house today to meet with him at least? well, like i said, my freshman colleagues and i really want to work hard to get government open and to then start working on the business of the american people. so i think we should get government open, we should do that first, and then we would be happy to talk to the presiden
surprising answers tonight in part ii of in-depth from nbc s lisa myers. i m helen chen wich. reporter: in many ways withes, representative helen chenowich is the representative of the sage brush rebellion. she wants states to take back control of land from the federal government and to weaken environmental regulations and protection of endangerened species. spotted owls are supposed to have 4,000 acres per nesting pairs of spotted owls. i mean, i don t even know how they find each other in 4,000 acres, but that s besides the point. reporter: if she stopped there, chenoweth would merely be a conservative with a western flair. what distinguishes her and some of her freshman colleagues is their firm believe that the federal government has crossed the line. that instead of protecting individuals, it routine lay tyrannizes them.
existence of the united states of america. to better understand the sage brush rebellion, you need to know who s on their side. surprising answers tonight in part ii of in-depth from nbc s lisa myers. i m helen chen wich. reporter: in many ways withes, representative helen chenowich is the representative of the sage brush rebellion. she wants states to take back control of land from the federal government and to weaken environmental regulations and protection of endangerened species. spotted owls are supposed to have 4,000 acres per nesting pairs of spotted owls. i mean, i don t even know how they find each other in 4,000 acres, but that s besides the point. reporter: if she stopped there, chenoweth would merely be a conservative with a western flair. what distinguishes her and some of her freshman colleagues is their firm believe that the
are republican and more than 40 of them are backed by the tea party. first on the agend frau the republican majority, they have said, repeal the health care reform law. i m joined now by representative elect bill hulzenga from michigan. you re about to start something very new in your life. looking forward to it. very eager and i think myself and a number of my freshman colleagues are ready to go. so one of the things that the republicans says that you want to repeal health care and you also said the key for you is bringing down the deficit. yeah it. the argument that is made if you look at the cbo, this is a nonpartisan group and they said it s going to save over $190 million for there to be this new health care law. is there a a $143 billion, is there a disconnect there? you want to repeal it even though the cbo says you re going to save $143 billion. a number of experts i talked
what distinguishes her and some of her freshman colleagues is their firm believe that the federal government has crossed the line. that instead of protecting individuals, it routine lay tyrannizes them. do you believe that federal employees on balance are agents of tyranny? no, i believe the nature of government can be tyrannical and has become tyrannical. reporter: critics accuse her of stirring up fear and pandering to extremists. she appeals the to the very far right in idaho and i think in this country. what really put chenoweth on the national map, for better or for worse, was her refusal to criticize the militia movement in the wake of the oklahoma bombing. she still refuses. my responsibility as a congressman is to represent every one equally. whether i feel entirely comfortable with them, whether they re my best friends or not. whether she s a pioneer for the west or a standard-bearer