I received an email today that included a nice little story relating to the health care bill.  Probably not a true story but still very clever and a fun read.  I thought that it could use a little more detail and information to truely make it fit what is going on.  So I've included my version below the original.  Let me know what you think.

Alright now back up a little bit to where Olivia won and where there were questions regarding who was going to pay for the ice cream...

Olivia - President

Teachers - Government

Students - American People

Ice Cream Companies - Insurance Companies

Farmers - Doctors

Ice Cream - Health Care Bill

Cows - Patients

Your lunch price will be increased 10 cents per day, and that 10 cents will be going towards the ice cream fund.  You also will NOT be receiving any ice cream until the next school year.  During this time Olivia and the teachers will be negotiating with the evil ice cream companies.  The ice cream companies will be told what ingredients to use and how much they will pay the farmer for milk.  Of course the farmer will be getting less money for his milk but he wants the business so he has no choice but to agree to the terms.  The next year rolls around and sure enough Olivia’s classroom gets ice cream every day.  But now all the classrooms want ice cream, so they are also told to bring in an extra 10 cents per day.  Olivia and the teachers now have the brilliant idea that they will raise their own cows and make their own ice cream out on the playground.  They will only make vanilla but they can now make enough ice cream for the whole school and they are not concerned with profit so if some kids can’t afford the 10 cents that is fine because they will be collecting 20 cents per day from the rich kids.  

After 10 years all the schools have evolved into one big network of ice cream making madness and of course the ice cream companies have gone out of business.  The farmers now work for the schools tending to the cows.

So what if Charlie wants chocolate ice cream?  Sorry Charlie!

What if Amy and Peter don’t want any ice cream at all?  Sorry you are required by law to take the ice cream!

What if Molly wants to bring in her own ice cream?  She can bring in vanilla ice cream.  It is against the law for her to bring any other flavor.

If current insurance companies must drop all pre-existing condition clauses and agree to have no out-of-pocket limit then don’t you think they will be raising our premiums?  Are they supposed to just eat the cost of whatever the difference is?  They already only make a 3% profit, so even if they offer their services for free they will be loosing money.  So what does this mean?  It means that insurance companies will be firing employees left and right and looking for a way to not pay on claims.  Even before the bill they were bad about paying claims right away.  Now if you get injured the insurance company will be looking for any other source to reclaim expenditures.  Workmans comp, liability, personal, business they will be after any and all of these other insurance providers.  Then after a few years of being billions of dollars in the hole, they will be out of business, or they will need a bailout.  Can you see where I’m going with this?  Then the Government will own the insurance companies and you can say HELLO to SINGLE PAYER SYSTEM!!

Blue Cross and Blue Shield?  Nope…Obama Cross and Obama Shield!

Mutual of Omaha?  Nope…Mutual of Obama!

UnitedHealth Group?  Nope…United States Government Health Group!

Disclaimer for Democrats:  It is not my intention to incite fear and/or anger.  This is simply my thoughts as to what COULD happen because of this new health care bill.

I have gathered all the information that you need to contact your Representative about the Health Care Bill.  This is all of the reps that are leaning YES or a TOSS-UP as of 3/17/2010.  I will update accordingly.  Call them, fax them, contact them through the website every hour of every day.  They have not been listening to the people, but they will.

Leaning YES:

Name: Rep. Brian Baird [D, WA-3] Address: 2443 Rayburn House Office Building B-Day: 1956-03-07 Phone: 202-225-3536 Fax: 202-225-3478 Party: Democrat State: WA Religion: Protestant Contact: http://www.house.gov/baird/IMA/email.shtml Website: http://www.baird.house.gov/

Name: Rep. Dennis Cardoza [D, CA-18] Address: 435 Cannon House Office Building B-Day: 1959-03-31 Phone: 202-225-6131 Fax: 202-225-0819 Party: Democrat State: CA Religion: Roman Catholic Contact: https://forms.house.gov/wyr/welcome.shtml Website: http://www.house.gov/cardoza/

Name: Rep. Gerald Connolly [D, VA-11] Address: 327 Cannon House Office Building B-Day: 1950-03-30 Phone: 202-225-1492 Fax: 202-225-3071 Party: Democrat State: VA Religion: Contact: https://forms.house.gov/connolly/contact-form.shtml Website: http://connolly.house.gov/index.html

Name: Rep. Barton Gordon [D, TN-6] Address: 2310 Rayburn House Office Building B-Day: 1949-01-24 Phone: 202-225-4231 Fax: 202-225-6887 Party: Democrat State: TN Religion: Methodist Contact: http://gordon.house.gov/contact/index.shtml Website: http://gordon.house.gov/

Name: Rep. Steve Kagen [D, WI-8] Address: 1232 Longworth House Office Building B-Day: 1949-12-12 Phone: 202-225-5665 Fax: 202-225-5729 Party: Democrat State: WI Religion:   Contact: http://kagen.house.gov/issue_subscribe.shtml Website: http://kagen.house.gov/

Name: Rep. Paul Kanjorski [D, PA-11] Address: 2188 Rayburn House Office Building B-Day: 1937-04-02 Phone: 202-225-6511 Fax: 202-225-0764 Party: Democrat State: PA Religion: Roman Catholic Contact: http://kanjorski.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2&Itemid= Website: http://kanjorski.house.gov/

Name: Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick [D, AZ-1] Address: 1123 Longworth House Office Building B-Day:   Phone: 202-225-2315 Fax: 202-226-9739 Party: Democrat State: AZ Religion:   Contact: https://forms.house.gov/kirkpatrick/dc-contact-form.shtml Website: http://kirkpatrick.house.gov/

Name: Rep. Alan Mollohan [D, WV-1] Address: 2302 Rayburn House Office Building B-Day: 1943-05-14 Phone: 202-225-4172 Fax: 202-225-7564 Party: Democrat State: WV Religion: Baptist Contact: http://www.house.gov/writerep Website: http://www.mollohan.house.gov/

Name: Rep. Scott Murphy [D, NY-20] Address: 120 Cannon House Office Building B-Day: 1970-01-26 Phone: 202-225-5614 Fax: 202-225-1168 Party: Democrat State: NY Religion:   Contact: http://scottmurphy.house.gov/Contact/ContactForm.htm Website: http://scottmurphy.house.gov

Name: Rep. James Oberstar [D, MN-8] Address: 2365 Rayburn House Office Building B-Day: 1934-09-10 Phone: 202-225-6211 Fax: 202-225-0699 Party: Democrat State: MN Religion: Roman Catholic Contact: http://wwwc.house.gov/oberstar/zipauth.htm Website: http://www.oberstar.house.gov/

Name: Rep. Nick Rahall [D, WV-3] Address: 2307 Rayburn House Office Building B-Day: 1949-05-20 Phone: 202-225-3452 Fax: 202-225-9061 Party: Democrat State: WV Religion: Presbyterian Contact: http://www.rahall.house.gov/?sectionid=9&sectiontree=9 Website: http://www.rahall.house.gov/index.html

Name: Rep. Zachary Space [D, OH-18] Address: 315 Cannon House Office Building B-Day:   Phone: 202-225-6265 Fax: 202-225-3394 Party: Democrat State: OH Religion:   Contact: http://space.house.gov/?sectionid=61&sectiontree=26,61 Website: http://space.house.gov/index.html

Name: Rep. Dina Titus [D, NV-3] Address: 319 Cannon House Office Building B-Day:   Phone: 202-225-3252 Fax: 202-225-2185 Party: Democrat State: NV Religion:   Contact: https://forms.house.gov/titus/contact-form.shtml Website: http://titus.house.gov/

Name: Rep. Charles Wilson [D, OH-6] Address: 226 Cannon House Office Building B-Day: 1943-01-18 Phone: 202-225-5705 Fax: 202-225-5907 Party: Democrat State: OH Religion:   Contact: http://www.charliewilson.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=139 Website: http://www.charliewilson.house.gov/

TOSS UP!!

Name: Rep. Jason Altmire [D, PA-4] Address: 1419 Longworth House Office Building B-Day: 1968-03-07 Phone: 202-225-2565 Fax: 202-226-2274 Party: Democrat State: PA Religion:   Contact: https://forms.house.gov/altmire/webforms/issue_subscribe.htm Website: http://www.altmire.house.gov/

Name: Rep. Robert Berry [D, AR-1] Address: 2305 Rayburn House Office Building B-Day: 1942-08-27 Phone: 202-225-4076 Fax: 202-225-5602 Party: Democrat State: AR Religion: Methodist Contact: http://www.house.gov/berry/zipauth.shtml Website: http://www.house.gov/berry/

Name: Rep. John Boccieri [D, OH-16] Address: 1516 Longworth House Office Building B-Day: 1969-10-05 Phone: 202-225-3876 Fax: 202-225-3059 Party: Democrat State: OH Religion:   Contact: https://forms.house.gov/boccieri/contact-form.shtml Website: http://boccieri.house.gov/

Name: Rep. Michael Capuano [D, MA-8] Address: 1530 Longworth House Office Building B-Day: 1952-01-09 Phone: 202-225-5111 Fax: 202-225-9322 Party: Democrat State: MA Religion: Roman Catholic Contact: http://www.house.gov/capuano/contact/email.shtml Website: http://www.house.gov/capuano/

Name: Rep. Henry Cuellar [D, TX-28] Address: 336 Cannon House Office Building B-Day: 1955-09-19 Phone: 202-225-1640 Fax: 202-225-1641 Party: Democrat State: TX Religion: Catholic Contact: http://cuellar.house.gov/Contact/SendMeAnEmail.htm Website: http://www.house.gov/cuellar/index.shtml

Name: Rep. Gabrielle Giffords [D, AZ-8] Address: 502 Cannon House Office Building B-Day:   Phone: 202-225-2542 Fax: 202-225-0378 Party: Democrat State: AZ Religion:   Contact: http://giffords.house.gov/contact/mailing-list/ Website: http://giffords.house.gov/contact/mailing-list/

Name: Rep. Baron Hill [D, IN-9] Address: 223 Cannon House Office Building B-Day: 1953-06-23 Phone: 202-225-5315 Fax: 202-226-6866 Party: Democrat State: IN Religion: Christian Contact: http://baronhill.house.gov/IMA/issue_subscribe.shtml Website: http://baronhill.house.gov/

Name: Rep. Marcy Kaptur [D, OH-9] Address: 2186 Rayburn House Office Building B-Day: 1946-06-17 Phone: 202-225-4146 Fax: 202-225-7711 Party: Democrat State: OH Religion: Roman Catholic Contact: http://www.kaptur.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=152 Website: http://www.kaptur.house.gov/

Name: Rep. Jerry McNerney [D, CA-11] Address: 312 Cannon House Office Building B-Day:   Phone: 202-225-1947 Fax: 202-225-4060 Party: Democrat State: CA Religion:   Contact: http://mcnerney.house.gov/contact.shtml Website: http://mcnerney.house.gov/

Name: Rep. Earl Pomeroy [D, ND-0] Address: 1501 Longworth House Office Building B-Day: 1952-09-02 Phone: 202-225-2611 Fax: 202-226-0893 Party: Democrat State: ND Religion: Presbyterian Contact: http://www.house.gov/formpomeroy/zipauth.htm Website: http://www.pomeroy.house.gov/

Well my Liberal friends I'm afraid that my soul searching is over now and I'm back to reality.  I was actually fully convinced that Mr. Obama was going to be adding the GOP's ideas for health care reform,  but I think this was just a ploy.  Politically it would have been very smart to include these ideas, because if the Republicans still said "No", it would make them look bad.  I was fooled into thinking that Mr. Obama had people working on these possible additions since the Health Care Summit last Thursday.  Instead all that was presented was a letter.

You can read it here:

Mr. Obama's letter to the leaders

This is a load of crap.  I think tomorrow I'm going to write a letter to by bank and let them know that I will be adding funds to my account.  They won't have the money but they should just take my word for it.  Unless you are a complete idiot you must understand that these GOP items will never be included in this bill in full.  As for tort reform it might include funds for pilot projects in the states to explore alternatives to resolving medical malpractice disputes.   There will be no capping of malpractice awards.  Mr Obama has made it very clear that he opposes these caps.  He did seem to like the idea of conducting random undercover investigations of health care providers that receive reimbursements from Medicare.  But that sounds like a Liberal idea anyway.  My take on his response to all other issues is... SCREW YOU.  He says "I’m open to exploring ways to address this issue" and "I’m open to including language to ensure that is clear.", let me translate this for you... SCREW YOU. 

I WAS willing to accept much of the extra garbage in this bill if they included the GOP's ideas.  And I meant really include the meat and potatoes of these ideas.  The GOP has them all written up for you to see on their website.  But after this crappy letter, I am even more against this bill than I was before.  I'm not just against it, I'm pissed off that Mr. Obama actually thinks he is being bi-partisan.  Mr. Obama you have made a very costly mistake, you could have included some very simple yet vital Republican ideas into this huge piece of legislation and in turn you would have acquired support from a great number of us.  But instead you slap us in the face with more broken promises.  We will now rally together even stronger than before against this.  You had your chance and you blew it.

Well I was actually pleasantly surprised to read that the White House will be coming out with a revised Health Care proposal on Wednesday.  Supposedly adding GOP ideas on tort reform and selling insurance across state lines.  Now they can't just put in a couple lines of verbiage on these topics they need to address them aggressively.  If this is the case then I think this is a very wise move their behalf.  The GOP can no longer say that the White House has ignored their ideas, and now voting against this bill could put anyone in a very bad situation.  This would change the dynamics of this very important and divisive topic considerably.

I think there would still be many problems with this huge piece of legislation.  Does it make abortion legal?  Will it cut Medicare?  Why doesn't it go in effect NOW instead of after Mr. Obama's first term?  How do we pay for it?  And many, many more questions would need to be answered.

After some soul searching I've determined that I have been against this bill not only because of the previous questions but also because I didn't want Mr. Obama to succeed.  And obviously that is the wrong attitude.  I didn't want him to win.  But that's a crappy way to look at this.  If he is willing to put REAL tort reform in this bill and actually allow insurance purchases across state lines...(I can't believe I'm going to say this)...Then I am willing to seriously consider this as a viable piece of legislation.  We can always change it and tweak it as we go.

I don't want the Government making medical decisions, or telling me I'm to fat for coverage.  I do want American's who don't have or can't afford health insurance to be able to get it, and get in NOW.  I've put my differences aside, now let's see who else will.

Dems Eye 'Reconciliation' on Health Care, But Tactic Is No Smooth Solution

I knew this was coming.  And of course the most recent mention of it was from a Senator in my state of Iowa.

"I think a decision has just been made -- we're just going to go ahead"

- Senator Tom Harkin

Obama's getting tired of all the failures and now he's going to be pulling out the big guns.  Threatening Executive Orders and Reconciliation to continue with his radical agenda.  The Democrats know they only have a small window to get things done.  Because they will be losing House and Senate seats this fall.  They are getting nervous and starting to feel the fire at their feet.  I don't want this crap rammed down my throat and I don't think most of you do either.  Mr. Obama has been loosing support since the day he took office.  The American people are starting to see him for what he is; an arrogant radical Progressive.