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September 28, 2005
Sweatin' to the Oldies: GOP's Bad Boys Trade Hubris for Hot Seats
Above: House Majority Leader Tom Delay responds to his indictment for conspiracy to violate Texas election laws that ban corporate contributions to state campaigns, and Senate Majority leader Bill Frist responds to an SEC probe into suspected insider trading, after he dumped stock in his family-owned chain of hospitals a few weeks before a poor earnings report led the stock to tank by 15%.
Several officers and directors of Hospital Corp. of America Inc. are also under investigation by the SEC.
Frist says he dumped the stock to avoid the appearance of inpropriety (since he shapes health legislation that can directly affect Hospital Corp. of America's bottom line.
The problem with that explanation is that Frist previously fought to keep that stock, putting it in a so-called blind trust (that eh...ain't that blind), claiming that solved the issue of any conflict of interest.
This scandal comes on the heels of his recent flip-flop decision to support funding for embryonic stem-cell research, which pissed off the right-wing, Christian nutcases he had been pandering to over the past year in hopes of winning support for a 2008 presidential bid.
My prediction? Bill Frist's presidential dreams are over. On Delay, we'll have to wait and see.
Posted by MJuhre at September 28, 2005 04:59 PM