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On his radio show today, Sean Hannity claimed that no conservative opposes healthcare reform. Hannity said, “No conservative is against healthcare reform…all there’s been is alienation and derisive comments by the Democrats.” He actually said this with a straight face, seriously.

Here is the audio courtesy of Media Matters:

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Hannity said, “So now it’s back to the old drawing board for the Democrats on healthcare, which by the way maybe they’ll be a little bipartisan, by the way no conservative is against healthcare reform, but you know what any discussion about portability, or medical savings accounts, or tort reform, or tax cuts you know it has just been diminished and pushed aside, and all there’s been is alienation and derisive comments by the Democrats.”

Hannity is saying that conservatives don’t oppose healthcare reform as long as it fits their definition of healthcare reform which doesn’t involve expanding coverage at all. The conservative vision of healthcare reform isn’t really healthcare reform at all. All the conservative solutions ignore the basic fact that most people who don’t have healthcare either can’t get covered, or can’t afford it.

Conservatives assume that people don’t have health insurance because they don’t want it. The idea that health insurance it isn’t accessible or affordable is ignored by them, and this is why a bipartisan solution to healthcare reform is impossible. In order for there to be a partisan solution, both parties have to agree on the problem. As long as conservatives continue to govern by ideology instead of practicality, bipartisanship will remain elusive.