>>>
but there is a new
law of the land
when it comes to
health care
in the u.s. and what republican senators plan to do to block it. nbc's kelly o'donnell is on
capitol hill
with more.
>>
reporter: good morning, meredith. step one, more than a dozen republican senators have offered their own bill to repeal the bill that involved
democrats
'
health care reform
. now that is a tough thing to do. now
republicans
, motivated conservatives and
democrats
are all trying to figure out the
rules of engagement
for this phase of the fight. usually when a bill is signed and moved into law, that quiets things down, but nothing has been typical here. even
washington
veterans wanted a keepsake from a ceremony that may define the
obama
years. and to victors go the pens. 22 of them.
>>
i've got to use every pen so it is going to take a long time.
>>
reporter: the president's signature made
health care law
and his opponents made their law.
>>
because those fighting changes are still out there. they'll be making a lot of noise.
>>
reporter: conservative voices are turning up the volume.
>>
health care
, they control that.
>>
reporter: popular host
glenn beck
of fox news tells his audience that freedom has been lost and socialism has gained ground.
>>
what happened this week? haven't we just been spanked? haven't most of the country -- doesn't most of the country feel like they've been spanked over
health care
? you bet. i do. you do. a lot of people do.
>>
reporter: some of that public anger boiled over last weekend with hateful words aimed at democratic lawmakers.
>>
and greetings to you,
ladies and gentlemen
.
>>
reporter: the provocative platform
rush limbaugh
commands can add
fuel to the fire
.
>>
we need to defeat these bastards. we need to wipe them out. we need to chase them out of town.
>>
reporter: political columnist and author
john avlon
.
>>
i think the extreme spiel empowered the center, the moderate majority of
americans
feel embattled. the extremes feel like they have powerful
television shows
and
political parties
who's got their back.
>>
in fairness to the president, what was he referring to --
>>
reporter: republican
john mccain
says disagreements over issues like higher taxes, medicare cuts and bigger
government spending
is one thing. but behavior is another.
>>
obviously all of us condemn it, but there is a lot of passion out there and there is a lot of anger because people feel that they are disconnected from the people they send to
washington
to represent them.
>>
reporter: and the
republicans
i talk to, meredith, say that is why they are offering amendments, proposed changes to the legislation that they believe reflect some of the concern that is out there among their base, their voters. and so that went late
into the night
last night. it will happen again today. and
democrats
say they feel very strong about their ability to knock down those attempts to change the bill because they think they have enough votes and enough wind at their back to hold firm.
>>
we'll see. kelly o'donnell, thank
“ ”