Hannity Get's Schooled By Fran Drescher.

"Oh, you poor brainwashed man, you."

It's the perfect response to Hannity's almost fact free assertions on the benefits of free market healthcare. At one point he claims that 99.9% of new drugs and technology are produced in the United States because of capitalism. He offers no figures to back up this assertion, he literally pulls this "fact" out of his asshole.

As Simon Hoggart says:

“There are few tribes more loathsome than the American right.”

Here are some more tiresome facts for Sean to ponder:

Health spending as a share of GDP.
US 16% UK 8.4%

Public spending on healthcare (% of total spending on healthcare)
US 45% UK 82%

Health spending per head
US $7,290 UK $2,992

Practising physicians (per 1,000 people)
US 2.4 UK 2.5

Nurses (per 1,000 people)
US 10.6 UK 10.0

Acute care hospital beds (per 1,000 people)
US 2.7 UK 2.6

Life expectancy:
US 78 UK 80

Infant mortality (per 1,000 live births)
US 6.7 UK 4.8

We spend less than the US and we live longer, and that includes our infants.

For me, the argument is best defined by the man who gave Britain it's national health service:

” . . . no society can legitimately call itself civilised if a sick person is denied medical aid because of lack of means.”

Aneurin Bevan, In Place of Fear.

Paul Krugman spells out all that stands in the way of the US pulling this off:

At this point, all that stands in the way of universal health care in America are the greed of the medical-industrial complex, the lies of the right-wing propaganda machine, and the gullibility of voters who believe those lies.

Tags: Hannity, universal healthcare, Obama