If “Schoolhouse Rock!” were in production today, they would probably skip producing the “America Rock” episode about the way our government is run. Otherwise, “I’m Just a Bill (the Obamacare Edition)” would have been a much, much longer segment, and Groove B. Chill would have sung themselves hoarse by the end of the song.
Poor Bill.
He made it through being an idea (“there ought to be a law!”), his local Congressman, committee, discussion and debate (“Most bills never get this far!”), the House of Representatives, the Senate, the President (“The president can still say no?”), and forty-six attempts to repeal Bill later, Capitol Hill keeps trying to kill him, even to the point where they’d rather shut down the government rather than let him live. I’m sure if you had told the producers of Schoolhouse Rock that then, they would have picked an easier, more palatable issue to make the song about, like naming post offices.
This whole situation is complicated enough to where I can see why Bill is so dejected. Even after becoming a Law, he’s still being bullied around like a little Bill.
In the original “I’m Just a Bill” song, the Bill rejoices after being told by the Congressman, “He signed you, Bill! Now you’re a law!”
Poor Bill doesn’t realize that the nightmare hasn’t even begun.