Can You Trust Bill Frist?
Sen. Frist will say anything to convince the American public that he isn’t corrupt. (Especially to convince us of the “coincidence” that he sold his shares in the family business right when the stocks were at a peak. Looks like Frist will now need to convince the SEC as well.)
Frist on his blind trusts in 2003:
Right now, I don’t know if I own HCA [stock] because it’s a qualified blind trust. [National Journal, 1/4/03]
This week, Frist admited that he knew he owned HCA. In fact, he directed his trustees to sell the shares. Office of Senator Bill Frist press statement, 9/22/05:
Senator Frist had no information about the company or its performance that was not available to the public when he directed the trustees to sell the HCA stock.
The lesson: when Frist talks about his stock holdings, you can never be completely certain he’s telling the truth.
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Amanda,
When Frist talks about ANYTHING, you can never be completely certain he’s telling the truth!
I’m switching my designation of ‘Plastic Man’ from the Governor of Idaho to Bill Frist.
September 23rd, 2005 at 4:46 pmEffective immediately.
Yeah, he had no idea, sure.
September 23rd, 2005 at 4:47 pmFamily company, no idea how it was doing. Yeah, right.
Blind trust, sure that’s what we would have to have
to believe that.
Faith-based ethics.
Of course you can’t trust him. This is the same dude who diagnosed Terri Schiavo from the Well of the Senate and pronounced her as NOT brain damaged. Of course, never mind the fact that he’d NEVER personally met her, nor read any of the reports.
Total flimflam man.
September 23rd, 2005 at 4:52 pmOne might think that a REAL doctor would never
September 23rd, 2005 at 4:54 pmdo such a thing, but well I he practices
faith-based medicine too.
do such a thing, but well I GUESS he practices
I cannot type today. Well, I can never type, but
September 23rd, 2005 at 4:56 pmman I sure am error prone today.
Me trust Frist…no further than I can throw him! But that goes for all the neocons and their henchpeople in or out of Congress, the White House, in short where ever and whenever they can be found.”Fool me once…your fault, fool me twice, my fault.” My late mother did not raise a fool.
September 23rd, 2005 at 4:56 pmYou “progressives obviously have no idea how a blind trust works. Credit fraud, on the other hand seem to be right up your alley.
September 23rd, 2005 at 5:04 pmBlind trusts do not supposed to have direct interactions from the person who has them - that’s why it’s called a ‘blind’ trust. His requests for specific market timing in fact shows that no such arrangement actually existed, and that he’s a complete fraud.
September 23rd, 2005 at 5:07 pmto paraphrase Al……..that would semm to be a LIE!!!!!
September 23rd, 2005 at 5:08 pmBlueRed,
Put your money where your mouth is. Unless you have an actual independent study that verifies your claims, it’s just more limbaugh fantasy - like everything else that comes from the reichwing.
September 23rd, 2005 at 5:08 pmActually, we have read up on blind trusts in the
September 23rd, 2005 at 5:14 pmlast few days. There seems to be more wiggle room
in the senate rules than exist for true blind trusts,
but that gets us back to “faith-based ethics”.
Not a real blind trust, but we will call it one
so I can continue to influence medical legislation
while having a major stake in a hospital company.
GOP playbook: Who needs real ethics when we can have the
appearance of ethics and make money on the side?
Rules are for the little people, right?
Who cares what the trolls think, Frist is history. Believe me, I’m right in his backyard.
September 23rd, 2005 at 5:21 pmAnybody that believes that Frist was unaware of the sale of these stocks (he was the beneficiary..no?) is also likely to believe that the country is being led by competent statesmen. Martha Stewart got indicted for the same offense, did she not?
September 23rd, 2005 at 5:22 pm#13
September 23rd, 2005 at 5:30 pmWRT Martha, yes she was indicted for securities fraud, but the charge was dropped, not enough evidence. She was CONVICTED for obstruction of justice.
“Put your money where your mouth is.”
Be careful what you wish for.
First you should check out the details of the “Chuck Fraud” scandal, which can be found at http://www.thewbalchannel.com/news/5004239/detail.html. Then you should observe that the story has already reached beyond the blogosphere to the WaPo editorial page, at http://www.washingtonpost.com/ wp-dyn/ content/ article/ 2005/ 09/ 22/ AR2005092202023.html. Of course you will notice that the NYT has not yet published an account on this stroy about New York’s senior senator, which gives Judd a glimmer of hope that he will not get left in the dust in this story. And, since you are a bright little progressive, you doubtless will offer the Times some helpful hints about questions to ask “Tricky Chuck.”
Questions like:
Senator Schumer, what have you been told about the theft of Lt. Gov. Steele’s credit information?
Did you get reports from the DSCC research department?
Can we have those reports?
How long have you known Katie Barge?
How about Lauren Weiner?
How did you meet Barge and Weiner?
Who first told you about the theft of Lt. Gov. Steele’s personal data?
What did you do about the theft after it was reported to you? That is, besides giving both Barge and Weiner 60-day paid vacations?
Did you call FBI Director Mueller?
Did you call Lt. Gov. Steele?
Did you apologize to Lt. Gov. Steele?
Have you spoken with Barge or weiner since you learned they are targets of a DOJ investigation? Not even to express your personal “feelings” on the matter? Not even to say that they would remain on the DSCC payroll?
Did Barge get to take her files home?
Who did you appoint to replace Barge? Did you give that person instructions on how to handle the files inherited from Barge?
Did you order the DSCC staff to secure all paper and computer files for the FBI’s use?
Did you get e-mails from Barge?
Have you erased those e-mails?
What have you told the FBI about this matter?
Has the FBI taken any material from the DSCC?
Are you aware of any other improper conduct by your staff?
Have you conducted any internal inquiry to determine whether there any other actual or prospective GOP senate candidates whose credit information has been stolen by your staff?
If not, why not?
Of course, I’m sure you also have fired off a helpful email to Senator Schumer, urging him to hold a news conference (he is not especially camera shy, you know) so that he can fully answer these and other important questions. Please let the rest of us know how he responds.
September 23rd, 2005 at 5:43 pmThat washington post page doesn’t exist - are you making stuff up again?
September 23rd, 2005 at 5:45 pmThe only thing I found searching about this supposed fraud was on the ChristianBroadcastingChannel - the most disreputal, lying and fraudulent propagandist mouthpiece in the world. If you get your news from there, no wonder you’re so ill informed.
September 23rd, 2005 at 5:47 pmI like how ther righties don’t ever say whether Frist is innocent or guilty, they just say “Well, there is a democrat that is a bad person.”
Big freaking deal. We here at Think Progress understand that there are bad democrats also. That is what these stupid righties can’t seem to figure out. We are willing to admit there are some republican-lites that call themselves democrats.
They on the other hand believe all of the republicans are saints. Give me a break.
September 23rd, 2005 at 5:49 pmHeh, Zpudge_Boy. :)
Other post.
September 23rd, 2005 at 5:50 pmBSR, you forgot to add: When did you stop beating your wife?
Also, your WaPo link is broken.
September 23rd, 2005 at 5:50 pmI have no idea if you are making stuff
September 23rd, 2005 at 5:50 pmup or not BSR.
I don’t trust that you aren’t, but if
Schumer is guilty of something here, he should
go down. Maybe it is not black and white, but
if he was involved in something slimy he
should go down.
I don’t know why you don’t feel the same way
about your corrupt GOP officials.
Maybe that is why you have so many of them.
I’m right in his backyard.
He’s going to be mowing some lotta lawns soon.
September 23rd, 2005 at 5:59 pm“The only thing I found searching about this supposed fraud was on the ChristianBroadcastingChannel.”
Then you aren’t looking hard enough.
Aside from what you might call the “usual suspects” on the right, this story has been reported by WBAL-TV and in Newsday, and the WaPo editorial page did address the issue - albeit the editors took a “boys will be boys, everyone does it” attitude. I can’t help it if the links don’t work, but I guarantee you will find this story developing on Fox, CNN and MSNBC, or some comination thereof.
Tricky Chuck is now busily avoiding the cameras and microphones - he even limited himself to issuing a mere written statement on the next SCOTUS nominee, a topic on which he has never failed to appear and bloviate in person.
September 23rd, 2005 at 6:05 pmI don’t get these rich folk.
September 23rd, 2005 at 6:06 pmI mean, Martha saved like $50K by cheating.
Isn’t she worth like a billion?
Frist has more money that God, right?
Why would he risk it?
Oh, wait, maybe it was GREED!
I repeat troll:
I have no idea if you are making stuff
up or not BSR.
I don’t trust that you aren’t, but if
Schumer is guilty of something here, he should
go down. Maybe it is not black and white, but
if he was involved in something slimy he
should go down.
I don’t know why you don’t feel the same way
about your corrupt GOP officials.
Maybe that is why you have so many of them
Do you listen or just cast trolls?
September 23rd, 2005 at 6:07 pmWhat about Frist, BSR-troll?
September 23rd, 2005 at 6:08 pmThis is why republican propagandists are untrustworthy. I found the article. The accusation is that two democratic staffers obtained a ‘credit report’ on a republican. They didn’t do the identity theft or even get access to his credit files - they got the same kind of credit report that is normally authorized when someone applies for a mortgage.
They’ve spun the story to sound like democrats were stealing credit cards - when this is absolutely bogus nonsense.
Not to mention the fact 3rd party services will supply this to ANY american who asks for it - it’s part of the privacy loosening that REPUBLICANS supported to be pro business.
BSR, you’re such an easily duped fool!
September 23rd, 2005 at 6:34 pmHere’s the correct link since once again republican ineptitude seems incapable of handling even the most basic of tasks…
http://www.thewbalchannel.com/politics/5004239/detail.html
The report was not ‘authorized’ by the DSCC, it was two employees who were over eager (or at least that’s what republicans accept and claim when it’s one of their own). Or let me use the argument that a republican used when they were caught cracking a democratic computer - “Well it’s not my fault if you don’t have good security”…
September 23rd, 2005 at 6:36 pmAs they say, power corrupts absolutely. Absolute power … hey! it’s kinda neat.
September 23rd, 2005 at 6:41 pm#28 - Ryan - the Repugs favorite phrase is “over zealous volunteer” when discussing this sort of thing.
September 23rd, 2005 at 6:42 pmHEADLINE: “Can You Trust Bill Frist?”
One could probably come up with dozens of likely lies uttered by this man, but most could be dismissed by Bushies as speculation or allegations, even if 99% likely to be true. BUT WE ALREADY KNOW FRIST’S A PROVEN LIAR: “In 1989, before launching his political career, he acknowledged in a book that he had regularly adopted cats from a Boston animal shelter, pretending to make them his pets, and then used them for medical experiments that killed them.”
September 23rd, 2005 at 6:56 pmhttp://www.boston.com/ news/ science/ articles/ 2005/ 08/ 02/ dr_frist_makes_change_in_a_political_prescription/
HEADLINE: “Can You Trust Bill Frist?â€
(Terri Schiavo) “Persistent vegetative state, which is what the court has ruled — I question it. I question it based on a review of the video footage which I spent an hour or so looking at last night in my office here in the Capitol…You don’t have to have an MRI Scan or a PET scan to [make] the diagnosis of a vegetative state.” CAT KILLER FRIST, MARCH 2005
“I never made the diagnosis, I wouldn’t even attempt to make a diagnosis from a videotape.” CAT KILLER FRIST, JUNE 2005
HEADLINE: “Can You Trust Bill Frist?†Not sure. Can one trust a born liar?
September 23rd, 2005 at 7:11 pmTAC you forgot the next line which is very important:
“Frist’s experimentation on cats, for which he has apologized, is not going to help him with any voters.”
That means he admitted it.
Cat Killer.
September 23rd, 2005 at 7:15 pm#32
You forgot to mention the part about the autopsy. You know where they discovered that 50% of Terry Schiavos Brain was gone when they openned her skull.
It is also very important to note that during the Terry Schiavo thing. Congress had an emergency meeting at midnight to stop the doctors from removing her feeding tube, but they couldn’t seem to end there vacation short to help thousands of people in the Gulf Coast.
And for all the trolls out there “Yes, some of these scumbags are democrats, but more of them are republicans”
September 23rd, 2005 at 7:19 pmI believe they call this ‘looting’, now where’s the moral outrage on faux news?
September 23rd, 2005 at 7:26 pmHEADLINE: “Can You Trust Bill Frist?â€
“Mr. Clarke has told two entirely different stories under oath (regarding Bush nemesis Richard Clarke’s testimony on how the Bush Administration handled 9/11 matters).” BILL FRIST ON THE SENATE FLOOR, JULY 2002
SHORTLY AFTERWARDS: After accusing Richard Clarke of perjury, Frist admitted that he never actually read Clarke’s 2002 testimony in question.
http://atheism.about.com/b/a/079427.htm
HEADLINE: “Can You Trust Bill Frist?â€
“I have looked at the video footage…She (Terri Schiavo) DOES respond…She certainly seems to respond to visual stimuli.” BILL FRIST, MARCH 17, 2005
“I never said, ‘She responded.’” BILL FRIST TO MATT LAUER ON ‘TODAY SHOW,’ JUNE 16, 2005
http://thinkprogress.org/index.php?p=1106
HEADLINE: “Can You Trust Bill Frist?â€
September 23rd, 2005 at 7:41 pm“Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist happened to be on ABC-TV News’ ‘This Week’ after the report’s release. Asked whether tears and sweat can transmit HIV (as falsely claimed in some abstinence curricula), physician Frist (who insists on being addressed as Doctor) first said, ‘I don’t know;’ when pressed several times, he finally said, ‘You can get the virus in tears and sweat. But in terms of infecting somebody, it would be very hard.’ The federal CDC website is absolutely clear: ‘Contact with saliva, tears, or sweat has never been shown to result in transmission of HIV.’ Frist also repeated the abstinence-education lie that condoms fail 15% of the time, when the actual rate is less than 3%.”
http://www.libchrist.com/sexed/AbstinenceLies.html
There you go again (#23) with that stupid “Tricky Chuck” name again, Red. What are you trying to do, get a laugh or make a fool out of yourself and me, a fellow rightwing conservative? Still, I like the way you never give up trying to switch the subject from Frist to Schumer.
Correct me if I’m wrong, Red, but you constantly mention “fraud” and “Schumer” on every post and article having to do with Frist. It really is so much “horseshit” as they say down in Crawford. I mean, I’m on your side, but I really don’t think the lefties here much give a crap about Chuck, do you? Now Dr. Frist, you really have to admit, is another matter. He’s all over the news tonight! To put it the way a physician would, Red, Frist is probably about to defecate in his pants, huh?
September 23rd, 2005 at 7:50 pmCaption contest: “Now you grab the cat by each hind leg, just so, and slowly pull the legs apart….”
September 23rd, 2005 at 8:22 pmHe looks like a Rock ‘em Sock ‘em Robot.
September 23rd, 2005 at 8:55 pmThat was funny JoJ.
Caption:
“And if I tamp my fists on the desk three times, like this, and repeat the republican moto ‘I am not a crook’ each time, people will start to believe it. Starting with my good friend I-RIGHT-I. We kill cats together you know?”
September 23rd, 2005 at 9:19 pmCOMPARED TO BILL FRIST,
MARTHA STEWART STOCK SALE =
CUTE LITTLE VALENTINE CANDY HEARTS
BILL FRIST STOCK SALE =
A STEROID ENHANCED ABUSE OF INSIDER KNOWLEDGE
(just another eerily fortuitous coincidence - that’s what they want you to believe)
BY THE FUCKING WAY, HOW MUCH LONGER IS KEN LAY IN PRISON FOR???
To Andy way up tp - yes it is true what you say about insider selling to bank profits after a large move, good business - but insiders ALSO, and probably more commonly sell because they understand the fundamentals are about to cause a setback - this is typically called insider knowledge when it is NOT yet public knowledge which is being acted upon by the sellers - hence the term insider selling.
and REALLY, REALLY, REALLY - haven’t these guys proven to you yet how wrong you and everyone is every time you or anyone give them the benefit of the doubt.
What is this now, about the 6 thousandth scam they are trying on us?
These guys are DIRTY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
They GOP has demonstrated by its actions thay they operate as an organization, a racket, that operates from the What’s in it for me personally mentality ONLY.
Not one decision is made with what is good for America or American’s as the focus. Their decisions are always filtered through the how do I benefit personally process FIRST.
These men to the last one of them have abdicated their fiduciary to America and deserve all political and legal maladies that come their way.
If none befall them America is doomed.
September 23rd, 2005 at 10:21 pmBill Frist owned 2.3 million shares of HCA. All of them were sold. It is always bad news for the common stock holder (think Enron) when an owner of a business sells off their stock. How could he not know that his stock was sold? That is impossible. He is lying through his teeth… about everything.
It’s the old ‘pump and dump’ scheme playing into the action.
Buy low, sell high
Truth is lies, so it doesn’t matter.
Didn’t HIllary make a couple of hundred grand on a cattle futures sweetheart deal?
Well, Bill Frist did a little bit better.
He’s gonna eat crow.
This is how it is in 2005.
September 23rd, 2005 at 10:49 pmRon,
Not only did he know the stock was sold, he directed the timing of the sale! Yet more corruption and illegal actions of the immoral reichwing.
September 23rd, 2005 at 10:55 pmoops, I got that wrong. 2.3 million shares total of inside trades. reading too fast, I make mistakes.
September 23rd, 2005 at 10:59 pmMy caption: “OK, you can put the handcuffs on me now, but go easy, I might need to practice my love again someday…”
September 23rd, 2005 at 11:45 pm“The report was not ‘authorized’ by the DSCC, it was two employees who were over eager”
Right, and the Watergate plumbers were just “over eager” Nixon supporters who got involved in a third rate burglary.
Schumer is already hunkered down, trying to duck the the Chuck Fraud scandal. I’ll bet he sets a personal record for consecutive days without a live press conference. He will do well to remember Watergate Lesson #1: It’s not the scandal, it’s the cover-up. Tricky Chuck would do well to remember that.
September 24th, 2005 at 12:02 amBlue State Red,
So, by saying it is not the scandal, it is the cover-up you are saying that Bill Frist should just come clean now, admit to his corruption and then the cover-up will go away, because Frsit will have admitted that he is a greedy fvck.
Everybody will forgive him. Yea! Stupidity is bliss.
Go finish high school.
September 24th, 2005 at 12:11 amOh, I forgot.
“it was two employees who were over eagerâ€
That is how they will describe you in the media. It is about to get a lot worse for your side.
September 24th, 2005 at 12:13 am“Right, and the Watergate plumbers were just “over eager†Nixon supporters who got involved in a third rate burglary.”
Wow, you sure have no sense of proportion. This is like when all of the republicans went after white water even though clinton lost almost all of the money on the deal - compare that to the 2.5 million insider trading shares of Frist, or the Harken insider trading of bush, or the halliburton billions. They have no sense of what a crime is, other than they believe only the other side commits them and refuse to recognize what their side did.
In reality, if someone committed a criminal act they should be punished, but while you’re at it do you agree that the republican congressmen who’s staff was involved in hacking into democratic computers should also be investigated at the same time? After all, your party said that didn’t make sense because the congressmen themselves did nothing - are you saying you believe there should be a double standard?
Because if you aren’t for equal justice, then clearly you don’t care about this incident in anything but a smear capacity… But then again, a republican never cares about anything other than smears, lies and their own personal thievery so I can assume what your answer will be…
September 24th, 2005 at 12:59 am” I’ll bet he sets a personal record for consecutive days without a live press conference.”
Bush holds that title for the election fraud, illegal and fabricated evidence for going to war, and the I think it’s up to 43 impeachable offenses so far he’s committed the last I checked…
You have no sense of right and wrong, you are truly a stupid partisan hack… You picked the right party to belong in, you’re truly among equals.
September 24th, 2005 at 1:01 amGood Morning all, sure glad you filled me in 3+ week’s ago about this bum Frits. Can’t believe I thought he was a good guy. Gees it get’s better and more informative every day. Hope we can boot them all out…..Blessings
September 24th, 2005 at 8:29 amYes it is true that something is blind, no not Fisk trust More likely the voters who elected the Sentor in the first place.The whores of Congress will forgive simply because they are also whores!!!
September 24th, 2005 at 10:55 amThe very fact that he ordered his trustees to sell the HCA shares shows that he knew that those shares were in the blind trust. This is a violation of blind trust ethics. The fact that they sold the shares on his direction also violates blind trust ethics. Frist can’t talk his way out of this. Only further corruption will get him off the hook.
Thirdly, the fact that the shares were all sold immediately prior to the public release of bad news that caused the shares to tank is strong evidence that Frist violated inside trading rules. Senator Frist is a very bad man!
September 24th, 2005 at 1:08 pm#19 - Thanks for the nod, Zpudge.
September 24th, 2005 at 1:43 pmConvict him for insider trading. It’s a felony conviction and as I understand it, it would prohibit him from running for president or the senate!
September 24th, 2005 at 11:00 pmSince Frist came out and backed stem cell research, his protection from the Administration seems to have evaporated. Guess you play by Dubya’s rules or you’re off the team. Since the AG office is controlled by you-know-who, I’d say this is Frist’s swan song. Even if he doesn’t go to prison, he’s certainly going to wipe out his ’savings’ in attorney fees, to say nothing about his credibility (whatever it was worth). And if this doesn’t send a signal to other Republicans …
September 25th, 2005 at 10:20 amNothing like having a knife to your throat.
Frist is class republican morals. He’s a looting thug who’d back shooting looters in new orleans.
Republicans are white collar thugs who don’t follow their own ‘values’. Hypocrit is too kind of a word. Psychotic greedy kleptomaniac is a better description for republican politicians and their reichwing zombie army.
September 25th, 2005 at 10:02 pm