tagged w/ Billionaires for Wealthcare
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Last week we talked about Billionaires for Wealthcare. I received this transmission from their organization:
The latest incarnation of the "Billionaire" meme, "Billionaires for
Wealthcare" struck again this weekend, as Healthcare Inc. CEOs in tuxedos and gowns "thanked" Tea-baggers for coming out for Glenn Beck's March on Washington this past Saturday.
Tea-baggers eagerly joined in on Billionaire chants of "Bring Back Bush!" and “Fight Socialism! Abolish Medicare Now!”, but the greatest crowd pleaser (and provoker) of the day, was a stirring rendition of their original song "Let's Save the Status Quo" sung to the tune of the "Battle Hymn of the Republic," and memorably captured in this music video. We were recently featured by Rachel Maddow.
Watch as we thank our confused Tea-bagger friends for protecting 'our' right to deny their claims.
The Billionaires use Voltairian satire at protests to show that some of the only beneficiaries of the current health care system, are the executives.
The Billionaires have been at work for over a decade, relishing in photo ops and editorials, hoping that their spectacle gets picked up by third-party news agencies.
Today Funny or Die and MoveOn released this satirical PSA
[funnyordie 041b5acaf5]
It shares the same message as the work of the Billionaires. But their approach is a different theatre on the war for universal health care. Will Ferrell and company are using their fame and viral reach to push this message out to millions of people.
Using satirical internet video for massive social change is something that only became a reality in the past few years. Faster computers, ubiquity of web content, and mainstream attention to internet phenomena, are all factors that make this a viable approach to enacting change.
Funny or Die celebrity exclusives always become viral. MoveOn's newsletter reaches 3.3 million people. Together they might have the potential to provide a counter argument to Glenn Beck's legion of Tea-Baggers.
Celebrities will get this idea out, but we should never forget that the Billionaires are on the front-line in this satirical strategy for social change.Last week we talked about Billionaires for Wealthcare. I received this transmission... more
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Republican pollster Bill McInturff was the keynote speaker on the final day of the America's Health Insurance Plans's state issues conference on Friday morning.
But his speech on how the health care reform debate was playing among the public was interrupted before it even began. A group of protesters began aggressively cheering McInturff for the work he has done for AHIP (he's a hired pollster for the private insurance lobby and, most infamously, was the force behind the 'Harry and Louise' ads in 1994)
McInturff, initially thinking that the cheering was legitimate, thanked the "AHIP officials" in the back of the room for giving him mental encouragement for his speech. He was not being paid for his appearance, he noted.
And then, the protesters -- dressed in business attire to fit into the crowd -- began singing. A relatively lengthy and harmonious rendition of "Tomorrow" from the musical Annie ensued, only with the chorus focused on government-run insurance. "The option, the option, we must have, the option... " went the rendition, in reference to the public plan.
The whole episode lasted a few minutes before the troupe (around 5 or 6 protesters) was escorted out by security.
McInturff, who remarked earlier that he didn't have a joke to lead off with, pointed to the exiting protesters and said "there's my joke." But while his speech had been interrupted, the pollster actually admitted to being mildly impressed.
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"If you are going to have protesters at least you can hire people who sing," he said. "That was very good singing."
The musical was written and performed by Billionaires for Wealthcare, a grassroots network of health insurance CEOs, HMO lobbyists, talk-show hosts, and others profiting off of our broken health care system. A group official writes to say: "We'll do whatever it takes to ensure another decade where your pain is our gain. After all, when it comes to health insurance, if we ain't broke, why fix it?"
Check it out for the lyrics too!Republican pollster Bill McInturff was the keynote speaker on the final day of the... more
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Billionaires for Wealthcare is a grassroots network of health insurance CEOs, HMO lobbyists, talk-show hosts, and others profiting off of our broken health care system. We'll do whatever it takes to ensure another decade where your pain is our gain. After all, when it comes to health insurance, if we ain't broke, why fix it?Billionaires for Wealthcare is a grassroots network of health insurance CEOs, HMO... more
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