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.

“Asked if he was forced to resign, Pearson declined further comment, calling it a personnel issue,” MSNBC reports.

Sen. Bill Frist claims that he sold his stock in HCA so he could vigorously pursue a health care agenda. From yesterday’s New York Times:

The senator’s spokesman, Bob Stevenson, said Wednesday that Mr. Frist “made a conscious decision to divest himself of all HCA assets” so he could pursue an ambitious agenda of health care legislation free of any appearance of self-interest.

In the past, however, Frist has argued strenuously that his ownership of HCA stock did not prevent him from taking a leadership role on health care policy in the Senate. From USA Today, 9/13/99:

Senate Republican leaders have looked to Frist, as a highly regarded physician, to sell the country on their vision of limited federal regulation of HMOs…

As a result of Frist’s leading role, members of both parties were concerned that his stock holdings created an ethical conflict:

But Frist’s key role this year in blocking President Clinton’s “patients’ bill of rights” proposal has brought new questions from Democrats and even some Republicans about whether the senator has a conflict of interest in health policy issues — not because he is a physician, but because of his ties to the nation’s largest for-profit hospital chain, Columbia/HCA Healthcare Corp.

Frist dismissed the argument out of hand. In fact, he argued that HCA stock holdings helped him do his job better:

Frist rejects suggestions that he has any conflict of interest and says the Senate Ethics Committee backs him up. His background and connections, he says, are an asset when Congress deals with health care.

Next excuse, Senator Frist?

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist is under investigation by the U.S. Attorney’s office for possibly having engaged in insider trading. Frist “sold all his stock in his family’s hospital corporation about two weeks before it issued a disappointing earnings report and the price fell nearly 15 percent… Frist’s father, Thomas, founded the company, and his brother, Thomas Jr., is a director and leading stockholder. ”

Apparently, insider trading runs in the family.

In 1997, CNN reported:

The nation’s largest for-profit hospital chain is already the target of an FBI probe of alleged Medicare fraud. Now Columbia’s newly appointed chairman, Thomas Frist, and six other executives face allegations of insider trading. The New York state comptroller making the claims in a lawsuit. The suit alleges Frist sold more than 3 1/2 million shares of Columbia over the past year and a half, while he supposedly knew of problematic business practices.

Thomas Frist survived the allegations and remains heavily involved in the company’s operations. According to the New York Times, “Mr. Frist’s brother Thomas F. Frist Jr. had left the management and was vice chairman. But he returned as chief executive to help HCA recover. He remains its largest individual shareholder and chairman emeritus.”

The evacuation away from the Texas coast has again laid bare the class divisions in America. Here’s how the exodus looked for people of different income levels –

The Rich:

Meanwhile, the governor said that among the 1.3 million evacuees are his parents — Houston resident and former President George H. W. Bush and his wife, Barbara Bush.

“They’re in Washington,” Gov. Bush said. “Their house (in Houston) is all boarded up.”

The Middle Class:

The storm’s march toward land sent hundreds of thousands of people fleeing the nation’s fourth-largest city in a frustratingly slow, bumper-to-bumper exodus.

“This is the worst planning I’ve ever seen,” said Judie Anderson, who covered just 45 miles in 12 hours after setting out from her home in the Houston suburb of LaPorte. “They say we’ve learned a lot from Hurricane Katrina. Well, you couldn’t prove it by me.”

The Poor:

Houston’s public housing officials were on hurricane alert Wednesday as Rita barreled toward the Texas coast, while transplanted New Orleans officials began leaving their temporary quarters in Houston.

Local officials said public housing residents are not being evacuated.

The rich are safe and sound, the middle class is struggling, and the poor are left behind. It’s the story of the Bush presidency.

Rep. Don Young (R-AK) is a self-proclaimed “little oinker” and aspires to be the “chief porker.” As chairman of the Transportation and Infrastructure Commitee, he’s ensured that the six-year $295 billion transportation bill is “stuffed like a turkey” with $721 million in projects for Alaska, including $223 million for the infamous “bridge to nowhere.”

But don’t you dare suggest that money is pork, especially if you’re sitting in his office.

Watch Young: QT Streaming

REPORTER: Isn’t there a bunch of stuff in that highway bill, at least 24 billion dollars, that could be taken out and used for the people in New Orleans and Mississippi and the places that were affected?

REP. YOUNG: No! That money is not there! That money is for transportation! That is not added pork. See, that’s why the whole media — Wall Street Journal, yourself, respectfully, you know, Sam Donaldson — don’t know what the hell you are talking about. This is grandstanding by individuals that don’t know what they’re talking about. I’ll go back to that. It’s ignorance and stupidity.

cascading into one of the city’s low-lying neighborhoods,” CBS reporting. “Fears that Hurricane Rita will re-flood city.”

documents related to Bill Frist’s suspiciously timed sale of stock in HCA, the nation’s largest for-profit hospital chain, Marketwatch reports. (Via Atrios)