Tuesday, September 27, 2005

Frist in Trouble

Well, what can I say? If you've seen one, you've seen them all. The Republican's last Senate Majority Leader - Trent Lott (R) - was forced to step down because of unsympathetic and down-right racist comments. Now, current Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R) has run into his own ethic problems. However, instead of saying something in bad taste - Bill Frist may actually have broken the law.

See, Bill Frist isn't like typical Americans who have to struggle and earn a decent living. Instead, his family has a large stake in a hospital company called HNC incorporated. While this alone is insignificant as far as the law is concerned, Frist has kept his shares of stock in the company for years while being a prominent member of the Senate. This illustrates a likely conflict of interest, especially when Frist is deeply involved in healthcare legislation. However, the plot thickens.

Despite cries for years that Frist should give up these stocks, Frist never sold them. He insisted there was no conflict of interest. However, a month before HNC's stocks plummetted, he suddenly realized he had been mistaken all along. Ladies and gentlemen, this is what people refer to as Insider Trading. This is what brought Martha Stewart to prison.

There still needs to be more evidence before formal charges can be brought and Bill Frist removed from the Senate, but the timing looks bleak. Check out this timeline:
http://www.thinkprogress.org/frist-stock-timeline

Furthermore, from June 1 to June 10 six major insiders in the company sold almost 350,000 shares of stock worth more than 18 million dollars.

Good news though! The authorities at the SEC and Justice Department have not fallen asleep at the wheel. A formal investigation has begun. While he's certainly innocent till proven guilty against the charges that could be brought, he certainly is guilty insofar as he didn't get rid of his stocks in the first place. Never before in recent memory has there been such corrupt leadership in D.C. as this current government has displayed. Tom Delay in the House of Representatives, Bill Frist in the U.S. Senate and George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, Karl Rove and about a dozen others in the White House are all proving why these Republicans can't be trusted. Here's hoping a balanced government is elected in 2006 and Republicans purge their party of these corrupt and dispicable individuals.

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