Frist: Could have been "more precise"
Posted by R. Neal
Didn't they teach Sen. Dr. Bill Frist in right-wing boot camp that you never admit you were wrong?
In Sen. Dr. Bill Frist's defense, however, he hasn't really done much to help the family business. The GOP's Medicaid cuts certainly aren't good for business in states where HCA has big provider contracts. On the other hand, he hasn't done much to threaten the family business, either, such as open up the floor for debate on a single-payer national health insurance program.
Meanwhile, in his (and HCA's) home state of Tennessee more than 120,000 people just lost their health insurance when Tennessee's TennCare/Medicaid program was gutted. Haven't heard a peep from Sen. Dr. Frist on how he proposes to help these people.
Didn't they teach Sen. Dr. Bill Frist in right-wing boot camp that you never admit you were wrong?
Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist acknowledged yesterday that he could have been "more precise" two years ago when he told the public in a televised interview that he wasn't sure if he still owned any HCA stock because his holdings had been placed in a blind trust.I guess "could have been more precise" is GOP-speak for "I could have told the truth, but chose not to." It's like 1972 all over again, except "could have been more precise" sounds a little better than "those statements are no longer operative."
Frist claimed in 2002 and on television in 2003 that he didn't know how much HCA stock he owned, and might not have owned any. But in fact, since 2001, Frist received notification 15 times of sales or deposits into his trust accounts of various stocks, including HCA shares.
In Sen. Dr. Bill Frist's defense, however, he hasn't really done much to help the family business. The GOP's Medicaid cuts certainly aren't good for business in states where HCA has big provider contracts. On the other hand, he hasn't done much to threaten the family business, either, such as open up the floor for debate on a single-payer national health insurance program.
Meanwhile, in his (and HCA's) home state of Tennessee more than 120,000 people just lost their health insurance when Tennessee's TennCare/Medicaid program was gutted. Haven't heard a peep from Sen. Dr. Frist on how he proposes to help these people.
12 Comments:
Was Frist legally required to set up this Blind Trust?
Frist: Some Christian, some family values...Did he LIE about Schiavo too.
Meanwhile, in his (and HCA's) home state of Tennessee more than 120,000 people just lost their health insurance when Tennessee's TennCare/Medicaid program was gutted. Haven't heard a peep from Sen. Dr. Frist on how he proposes to help these people.
TN has a Democratic governor, so Frist wants things to get worse-- better for the GOP.
Haven't heard a peep from Sen. Dr. Frist on how he proposes to help these people.If the people die, and the GOP eliminates the estate tax, then Frist will have helped their families by minimizing tax liability.
Brian A.
Well, at least he can be the first practitioner of Fristianity in prison. I wonder if he'll be able to do cardio-thoracic surgery with a shank?
Lucky for Bill the TennCare debacle is in the hands of the Democratic governor (who also made his bundle as a healthcare tycoon).
anon #1: You can read the Senate Ethics manual here. The Qualified Blind Trust is defined on page 133.
There does not appear to be anything in there that requires senators to create blind trusts; however, the manual goes to a fair amount of trouble to define what constitutes a qualified blind trust, including the requirement that the trust agreement be approved in advance by the Ethics Committee.
So either
(a) Senator Frist's "blind trust" is not a qualified blind trust as defined in the Ethics Manual, but rather just a snow job on the unwitting public;
(b) Senator Frist is violating the terms of his qualified blind trust agreement;
or (c) Senator Frist is adhering to the terms of a "trust agreement" containing a massive loophole that was approved prior to its execution by the Ethics Committee.
If I had a three-sided coin, I'd say it's a coinflip.
anon #2: Justification by faith is a bitch, ain't it?
It's not actually a point in his defense that once he found out that the company's immediate business prospects were taking a downturn that he dumped the stock. At moments like this, key stockholders are supposed to ride it out, in support of other stakeholders.
Contrast, say, Enron with Microsoft.
ba, don't forget, you're talking about something like 20 families that might be affected by the estate tax, as compared to 120,000 without health insurance, none of whom, it's pretty safe to say, are affected by the estate tax.
Haven't heard a peep from Sen. Dr. Frist on how he proposes to help these people.
Soprano says:
He doesn't propose to help them. Nor does Governor Bredesen. They just don't care. It's as simple as that.
Sophrano, you know how to cut to the heart of the matter.
They just don't care. It's as simple as that.
Well said.
"Haven't heard a peep from Sen. Dr. Frist on how he proposes to help these people."
that is not his job, that is a state issue. Also, there are several state senators looking for a way to help them out.
Cube, Medicaid is a Federal program. (As is Social Security, a fact Bush was confused about during the 2000 election.)
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