Hey Boys & Girls - - It's time to play 'Guess That Quote' !

Ok -- for 100 points and a chance at the bonus round -- who wrote the following statement on July 2, 2009 at 12:12 PM ET?:

"More than 20 percent of all Medicare spending occurs in the last two months of life. Gundersen Lutheran Health System in La Crosse, Wisconsin has developed a successful end-of-life, best practice that combines: 1) community-wide advance care planning, where 90 percent of patients have advance directives; 2) hospice and palliative care; and 3) coordination of services through an electronic medical record. The Gundersen approach empowers patients and families to control and direct their care. The Dartmouth Health Atlas has documented that Gundersen delivers care at a 30 percent lower rate than the national average ($18,359 versus $25,860). If Gundersen’s approach was used to care for the approximately 4.5 million Medicare beneficiaries who die every year, Medicare could save more than $33 billion a year."

**NOTE**: The Gundersen approach is the exact same approach to end-of-life medical care decision making that is being proposed by Obama in his health care reform package. This approach is now being assailed by right-wingers as the infamous and evil "death panel" solution.

Now - just this week our mystery writer also made the following statements on THIS WEEK with George Stephanopoulos:

STEPHANOPOLOUS: The only thing that’s in the bill is that Medicare would pay for what they say is voluntary counseling on end-of-life issues.

MYSTERY WRITER: I think people are very concerned when you start talking about cost-controls… you’re asking us to trust the government. Now I’m not talking about the Obama administration, I’m talking about the government. You’re asking us to believe that the government is to be trusted. We know people who’ve said routinely, well, you’re going to have to make decisions. You’re going to have to decide. Communal standards, historically, is a very dangerous concept.

STEPHANOPOLOUS: It’s not in the bill.

MYSTERY WRITER: (stammering) B-but, the bill’s… a thousand pages of setting up mechanisms. It sets up 45 different agencies. It has all sorts of panels. You’re asking us to trust the government when there clearly are people in the government who believe in establishing euthanasia, including selective standards.

Take a wild guess. Take an educated guess.

30 seconds . . .

20 seconds . . .

Give up?

10 seconds . . .

BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZTTT!

This week's mystery writer is that great political chameleon and walking, talking contradiction -- the one, the only . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

NEWT GINGRICH.

Phony fucker.


----k