Asked by a Canadian viewer, “Has anyone noticed that life expectancy in Canada under our health system is higher than the USA?” Bill O’Reilly (7/27/09) responded: “Well, that’s to be expected, Peter, because we have 10 times as many people as you do. That translates to 10 times as many accidents, crimes, down the line.”
(h/t Political Animal.)
Intelligent Design has performed a corporate takeover of basic mathematics.
Wow. I did a spit take when I first saw/heard this clip. I don’t think Bill-O could be any more ignorant and clueless than what he’s doing here. Does he honestly and truly NOT KNOW that these stats are averages and therefore the differences in population are taking into account?
And even if he doesn’t, his point is still totally meaningless. The US has way more shootings and gun related violence than Canada, even taking the population difference into account. The US spends way more PER PERSON on their health care than Canada and have fewer people covered. There are MANY stats that paint the US in a negative light (positive too, but that is another topic) compared to countries like Canada. And those things go above and beyond any simplistic explanation like “we have mroe people” can account for.
A few of us are interested in Canadian after 65. Also I have NEVER heard a Uni-healthcare pundit say what % of their incme they would be willing to pay, in taxes, for ObamaCare. Retirees who work and plan for their retirement and punished later by having their Social Security benifit taxed[ thanks to Al Gore].
So, what was papa bear thinking when he said this? I mean, really. What did he think those words mean? I am so confused.
Actually, I think O’Reilly’s stats are off…
If the population is ten times greater, sure ten times as many people will be affected by violent crime.
But that leaves 90% *more* who are not. Therefore, American lifespans should be 90% higher in the States.