http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D3KDmEvNmJ0

Paul Shanklin
Sung to American Pie


A long, long time ago
I can still remember
How, the protests used to make me smile
Cause I knew we could ram it thru
Before they ever had a clue
Then maybe they’d shut-up for a while
But the protests grew and made me shiver
Pelosi and Reid could not deliver
Now our push for health care has to wait
Til September [Spoken: or October or next year]
I cant remember if I cried
When I heard the right had organized
But something told me deep inside
That day National Health Care died.
So Id lied, lied at every townhall in sight
Drove my Chevy cross the country tryin to put up a fight
Them good ol boys were standing right there outside
Sayin this will be the day that it dies
This will be the day Obama Care dies
We were gonna run it all on our own
But Congressmen and Senators were gettin stoned back home
Thats not how it was supposed to be
We used to be treated like a king and queen
And the sweater she borrowed from LL Bean
And my voice could part the stormy, stormy seas
But now every time I hit the stage
Bitter crowds appear in fits of rage
Somewhere down in hell
Is where my members fell
I was blown away by Bob and Buck
And the redneck neighbors with their pickup truck
But I knew I was out of luck
The day that health care died
Even though I lied, lied at every townhall in sight
Drove my chevy cross the country tryin to put up a fight
Them good ol boys were standing right there outside
Sayin this will be the day that it dies
This will be the day Obama Care dies
Even though I lied, lied at every townhall in sight
Drove my chevy cross the country tryin to put up a fight
The good ol boys were standing right there outside
Sayin this will be the day that it dies
This will be the day Obama Care dies
[Spoken: Uh...Would you be interested in a health care co-op?]

this was supposed to be humor?

Bravo, bravo and bravo!!

Yep. Some people get it. Some don't.

Keep in mind that I never said I believe in the message it sends. Nor have I completely denied the message.

I got a chuckle out of it. Parody occasionally does that for me.

I posted it for that reason only.

Is there any alternative plan for fixing the health care I should be cheering for, beside what we got now, or is it good enough? See, I'm just sayin' I was a sub contractor for 5 years and I couldn't afford it anyhow.

You and just about every other person that's self-employed.

I just also happened to be a person who took the health/life insurance test twice and failed it by one point..and i didn't get hired as an insurance agent. I studied health care programs (and life insurance) available today..I gotta say that what goes on in the real world vs. how it supposed to be is just amazing.

Basically, I learn how it supposed to be and the rules and what is a pre-existing condition and on what basis someone gets a health insurance and what are the disqualifying problems and how large groups like a company would buy health insurance and so on....

It looks good on paper and seems to be fair, but that's just not how it is carried out nowadays and the apply it to the current situation just doesn't work. If Health Insurance would be similar to Life Insurance and how it is setup would be great, but unfortunately health insurance giants who monopolize and the medicine/medical companies are the real players, who continue to rip off as much as possible and they couldn't care less if half of USA gets wiped out in the process, as long as they get their money.

I'm not saying that Obama care is the solution, because I usually oppose any solution coming from the government, but I neither see any alternative proposed to fix the problems and allow a fair competition of health care providers to drive down the prices.

This is all just telling me that there are different groups opposing Obama's health care plan , some are opposing it for the fear or government ruled laws coming out and destroying competition, others oppose it, because they are in the pocket of the health care lobbies.

What I see as a failure to have a clean and independent group or "party" which would provide a fair alternative, but what I see is people going either Pepsi Or Coke, nobody wants Root Beer or Gatorade, if you understand my metaphor.

It would actually be a shame if we cannot get a public option and a revised health care system out of this.

Not really a laughing matter.

It is such a complicated thing to try and figure out. For over 20 years I have been on various local committees with doctors, health care professionals, politicians and hospitals. There is no easy answer.

Tort reform would help keep the costs down for doctors. Excessive settlements awarded to individuals for a not perfect outcome have caused malpractice insurance for doctors to skyrocket. In turn, they charge us more for services and it continues from there.

As the economy slows, businesses find it a huge burden to continue health care coverage for employees at the levels they did previously. Employees find it difficult to pay more into the system when their incomes have suffered a blow. I don't see any insurance companies coming forward with any solution that's viable.

With so many unable to afford insurance I almost believe that something has to be done on a national level. Even if it's not perfect, something has to start the shift. We have needed to revise the health care system in this country for a long time. Any movement would be better than none.

But yet, the Government " plan " makes no mention of Tort Reform.

It also makes no mention of allowing insurance companies to compete against each other nationwide.

Competition brings lower prices. Always has, always will.

I don't buy into the " anything is better than nothing " idea.

While there needs to be reform in the health care system, this is not a reform bill. It is a nearly complete dismantling of the system to suit the liberal/progressive idea of the way things should be.

Private companies will never be able to " compete " with the government.

Let's also keep in mind that there are quite a few doctors that won't accept Medicaid or Medicare because they don't pay their bills. Or they determine what a procedure or test is " worth " and pay much less than the doctors and hospitals need to help break even.

Knowing that they will get paid less from Medicaid or Medicare, if a person with insurance comes in, that insurance company gets charged hundreds more for normal procedures. That drives the costs of insurance up.

What makes any of you think that the government, unable to actually pay the bills as charged to Medicaid and Medicare, are going to be any better at running the entire health care system?

It's not going to be any more of a shame than it will be when the government takes over and doesn't pay their bills.

Red tape and buerocracy will drive up costs just as efficiently as anything the insurance companies have done.

But, the insurance companies simply raise the rates. The government, to make up for higher costs, will just keep raising taxes higher and higher to make up the difference.

I guess it's one of those "It's only funny until someone gets hurt" deals.

Then the people who yucked it up for so long get a wake-up call in the form of a life-threatening illness and find out just how treacherous the system they got duped into praising can be.

Only it's too late then.

-Kerry O.

Republican Healthcare reform= Don't get sick!!!!

For all their protestations about how incredibly awful government sponsored healthcare is, you don't see them giving up their OWN _free_ healthcare.

Does anyone know if they keep getting that paid-for healthcare for the rest of their lives when they either leave Congress voluntarily or are voted out?

-Kerry O.

They get it for life if they served.

Here is the current solution for anyone want healthcare:

Become a citizen of another country. Canada, Cuba, or EU. I heard, in Ireland or Germany, they will give you citizenship if one or both of your grandparents were from there..don't know about the other countries.

If you got nothing or don't wanna do it, unless you get a good job with a good healthcare plan (and even then you might be denied of healthcare coverage on some BS excuse) , you're screwed.

Yeah, thinking about moving to britain myself..lol


seriously though, as a songwriter myself I thought it was clever even if I disagreed with the line about Obama lying.

Federal Employees Health Benefits Program

As soon as members of Congress are sworn in, they may participate in the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program (FEHBP). The program offers an assortment of health plans from which to choose, including fee-for-service, point-of-service, and health maintenance organizations (HMOs). In addition, Congress members can also insure their spouses and their dependents.

Not only does Congress get to choose from a wide range of plans, but there’s no waiting period. Unlike many Americans who must struggle against precondition clauses or are even denied coverage because of those preconditions, Senators and Representatives are covered no matter what - effective immediately.

And here’s the best part. The government pays up to 75 percent of the premium. That government, of course, is funded by taxpayers, the same taxpayers who often cannot afford health care themselves.

Read more: http://public-healthcare-issues.suite101.com/article.cfm/health_care_for_the_us_congress#ixzz0Ya4QwZMY