RUSH: I want to go back to this Rasmussen poll: 44% of American adults say that health care services should be made available for free to all Americans. It was a phone survey. Thirty-nine percent disagree with the premise, and 17% are not sure. Now, my first reaction when I saw this was, ‘Oh, no! We’re getting close to mob rule here!’ And then I said, ‘Why stop at health care for all Americans? Why not health care for every human being around the world?’ Who are we to deny health care, free health care, for everybody in the world? We’re all human beings, and we’re no better or different than anybody else. Then I got to asking myself a different question. By the way, I think Rasmussen ought to redo this, I really do. As part of the question, ask, ‘Would you be willing to wait six months for surgery if every American were given free health care?’ Well? This happens. Canada, Great Britain. How about the story from Great Britain that we had yesterday? They are actually telling women over there, ‘Natural childbirth, give birth to your baby in a birthing pool. Don’t come to us; don’t come to the hospital; don’t come for pain drugs and don’t come for epidurals because we’re not giving them anymore.’ Why? They don’t have the money.
So if we gave health care free to all Americans, would you as a pregnant mother be willing to give birth to your child in a birthing pool with no pain drugs provided by your health care plan? You know, put some reality into this. Do it again, Scott. Please, do it again. If you said, ‘Do you think we should have free beer for all Americans?’ well, the answer would be 94%. We got some teetotalers, of course, that don’t drink, so they would think, no, why should I pay for somebody’s beer when I don’t drink beer, when I’m not gonna get anything out of it? Why did only 44% say yes? See, you can see this number, and you can say two things about it. You can look at it as though it’s a disaster because it is close to 50%, that’s mob rule, oh, no. Or you can look at it and say, wow, you know what, I’m a little surprised. Many more people don’t want, or are not sure about, free health care for all Americans than those who want it.
As you know, ladies and gentlemen, I tend to always try to find the positive in these circumstances. Scott, when you redo the poll — I mean, I don’t know him, don’t misunderstand — Mr. Rasmussen, when you redo the poll, when you put in this question about American people wanting free health care for all Americans, ask them who they think should pay for it. The French? The United Nations? Ask them in the question, if you have to pay for your free health care, do you think every American should have free health care? Because, see, it’s not free. There is no such thing as free. I’m surprised that Rasmussen came up with this question. I’m glad he did, for a couple reasons here, but clearly you cannot take the results of this poll all that seriously.