Am I a stupid man?

A fool thinks himself to be wise, but a wise man knows himself to be a fool.

We happen to see this a great deal on the Daily Show. And after watching Secretary of Health and Human Services sit down with Jon to talk about the Affordable Health Care Act, I decided that this was conversation that must go on.

Jon can't help but revel in his applause, and Sebelius can't help
 but smile at the mention of universal Medicare.

I have to admit, I hadn't seen Kathleen Sebeilius's Oct. 7th appearance on the Daily Show until now. As happens all too frequently, there was an insightful conversation not seen anywhere else on in media, cut short.

"She didn't answer my question!" Protested Jon, in his voice that deftly combined sillyness and seriousness. But I think Jon had other reasons to be upset.

What bothered me throughout the whole interview was the amount of pure condescension that Sebelius displayed towards Stewart. To me, Sebelius showed more than just a typical "duck and dodge" towards Jon Stewart's question about enrollment dates for individuals as compared to employers. She had to spout out talking points that she herself couldn't possibly believe to be true.

What grilled me is that Sebelius kept grossly exaggerating the percentage of Americans who have employer-provided health care coverage. When Jon Stewart, said blank and too much applause, that businesses would be more profitable if health care were de-coupled from employment, and consumers would save money through single-payer, Sebelius doubled down.  "The President," she said, "did not want to dismantle the health care that 85 percent of the country has."

Um, not really. Not even close. The figure of Americans with employer-provided health-care coverage is closer to 55 percent. And thanks to President Truman, private companies receive a tax credit of 30 percent from the Federal Government (not zero, as Sebelius claims). If someone receives employer-provided coverage from a government job (ie Police Officer, Fire Fighter, Secretary of Health and Human Services), obviously, that figure is 100 percent. Even if the "85 percent figure were true, how is streamlining a system of payment for health care akin to outright "dismantling?"

Kathleen Sebelius must know that employer-provided health care is on its way out.

And that is a good question: since so much of America's health care is already taxpayer-funded, and employer-provided health care is already in a state of constant decline, why bother propping up a for-profit health care industry whose failure to provide affordable coverage started this mess in the first place?

Put me in Jon's camp, but what do you think? Should Jon have done a better job fact-checking Sebelius and her bogus claims, or would that have made her even more guarded and evasive with her answers? Are we stuck with "ObamaCare," warts and all, for another half-century? Or can Jon Stewart's pro-business argument for Universal Medicare seize the day in the not-to distant future?