Or, "Problems, problems -- whose got the problems?" Of course, that this man (and I use that term loosely) is a liar is no surprise to any of us (remember his kitten adoption incidents during his med school years).
The beauty of his current situation is that now his statements are a matter of public record. Of course, one of the things we've all wondered (especially those of us who are represented by him) is why, at this late date, does he think his owning stock in HCA might present thhe appearance of a conflict of interest? Isn't he a few years too late on that front?
I love reading the American Progress Action Fund's daily "Progress Report."
The "Progress Report" has this to say about the senior senator from TN (I've included some, but not all, of the links):
Was Blind But Now I See
For years, Senate Majority Leader Sen. Bill Frist (R-TN) has clung to his shares of his family's hospital company, HCA Inc, insisting that his holdings did not constitute a conflict of interest, even as he played a critical role in shaping the nation's health care policy. This summer, everything suddenly changed. In June, Frist requested that all his HCA stock, which was held in a "blind trust," be sold. A month later, the company announced that its earning were weakening and the stock dropped nearly 15 percent from its peak. Frist claims that he sold the stock to avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest. But the suspicious timing of the sale has created serious problems for Frist on a variety of fronts. (For more information, check out this detailed timeline on ThinkProgress.org).
FRIST'S ETHICS PROBLEM: On June 13, 2005, Frist contacted his trustee and instructed him to sell all of his HCA stock. Under Senate ethics rules, Frist would be allowed to tell his trustee to sell a specific stock only if the stock "creates a conflict of interest or the appearance thereof due to the subsequent assumptions of duties." Fred Wertheimer, president of Democracy 21, identifies Frist's problem: "I don't know what new duties he would point to above and beyond becoming majority leader, and that was three years ago."
FRIST'S LEGAL PROBLEM: Frist ordered his HCA stock to be sold at the same time company insiders were selling large quantities of their stock. For example, "From June 1 to June 10, six insiders sold a total of 341,300 shares valued at $18.6 million, according to Thompson Financial." A month later, "the stock's price dropped 9 percent in a single day because of a warning from the company about weakening earnings." If Frist possessed material non-public information about HCA, the sale of his stock could constitute illegal insider trading. The Securities and Exchange Commission and the Justice Department are investigating.
But, here is my favorite part:
FRIST'S HONESTY PROBLEM: In January 2003, Frist said in a television interview, "I think really for our viewers it should be understood that I put this into a blind trust. So as far as I know, I own no HCA stock...I have no control.
It is illegal right now for me to know what the composition of those trusts are. So I have no idea." That wasn't true. The Associated Press reports that "just two weeks before those comments, the trustee of the senator's trust, M. Kirk Scobey Jr., wrote to Frist that HCA stock was contributed to the trust. It was valued at $15,000 and $50,000." Even if investigators determine Frist's recent sale was legal and ethical, Frist needs to explain why he lied to the public about his trusts.
Stay strong!