GLENN: Okay. So here are some of the things that the politicians are saying now. After the big meetings that they had with people, they are now saying that the people that they are seeing on the streets, the people that they are seeing coming to their town hall meetings are nothing but extremists, they are all politically connected and put together by these organizations and they are all on talking points and that they are dismissing these people. Where does that lead?
HANNAN: Well, if they are right about that, then they will be all right. But if they're wrong about it, then it's going to be they who are dismissed when the next election comes. That's how the system works. And, you know, I have a lot of confidence in the good sense of the American people, you know. This is a freedom‑loving country, a country founded in the ideal of independence, the dispersal of power, the constraint of people in office, and I can't believe that the American people will suffer this encroachment of state power and state coercion in their life. I just don't believe that is compatible with the good sense, the sturdiness, the independence of the American people. And American legislators I'm sure because there are good people, patriotic people in both parties in this country, on both sides of the aisle, I'm sure they want to listen to what their constituents are saying.
GLENN: I know you have to catch a train to go to Washington. Do you have any more time?
HANNAN: I reckon we've got time for one or two more questions.
GLENN: I'd like to know, the healthcare system, they are saying that this is going to save us money, that this is going to be better healthcare system. You know, Chris Dodd, God forbid, you know, nobody wishes anything to happen to anyone or anyone to get ill and even though I disagree with this guy, you know, I wish him the best. But here he is pushing for healthcare, the kind of healthcare that you have in your country where I'm trying to remember the number. I think it's 75% of those men who get prostate cancer in your country live.
HANNAN: Five years, yeah, five years later you've got a one in four chance of being dead from the moment of diagnosis.
GLENN: Five years ‑‑
HANNAN: Whereas in the U.S. you've got a zero percent of having died five years, if the condition was good.
GLENN: Canada is already, I heard a story on Fox and Friends this morning where somebody who had to come into the United States, Canada said, you know, there's nothing we can do for you; your cancer is too far gone. He came down here and he got the radiated pellets and he's fine.
HANNAN: There you go. I mean, if your health system was that bad, why is the whole world knocking at the door to try and get in and use it. Look, I don't think the U.S. healthcare system is perfect, right, because nothing is perfect in this life. And it's not for us to create perfection. But you can improve your system without junking the essence of it which is that you get to choose as a consumer. You get to choose a doctor, you get to choose the specialists. And if you are unsatisfied, you can go for better treatment elsewhere. And that's what is missing in the British system or in any state‑run system. You basically have to put up with whatever you're given.
GLENN: We have the AARP, which is the association for retired people. They are supposed to be the guardians of the elderly. This special interest group has just thrown their hat in the ring with universal healthcare. I have never, ever read anything other than not good for the elderly if you are in universal healthcare. Why would they do that? Is there anything that shows you, anywhere in Europe that healthcare gets better for the elderly if you are in universal programs?
HANNAN: The opposite is true. First of all I'm slight ‑‑ I'm going to slightly convolute the use of the word universal. I mean, I haven't ‑‑ I've been here a few days now and I haven't seen anybody kind of dragging their broken leg behind them down the street because they are not getting treated. So you already have universal healthcare in the sense that if you are in need of treatment, you get it, right? But no, I mean, if you look at our system, they probably reflect the values of society to some extent when I say this, but this isn't really an excuse for it. It is very good at treating children. They will make a real effort if your child is sick. They will move whatever machinery they can to get you the treatment you need. But elderly people, you know, Glenn, I could tell you horror stories of people that are left without being fed, left without having their beds changed, you know, and it's the worst situation to find yourself in because there's nothing you can do about it. You've got no opportunity for redress as the user of the system. The whole NHS is based around the idea that you are a supplicant, you are meant to be grateful for anything you get, you are meant to smile and say thank you, doctor, and if you are dissatisfied, that's too bad.
Wow....doesn't that sound great. We are supplicants. Wait...the libs and oligarchs in Congress already view us this way. Grr....
