Bill Frist now facing two investigations

[Thekla]

Senate Majority Leader allegedly disobeyed blind trust rules

WASHINGTON - Blind trusts are designed to keep an arm’s-length distance between federal officials and their investments, to avoid conflicts of interest. But documents show that Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist knew quite a bit about his accounts from nearly two dozen letters from the trust administrators.

Frist, R-Tenn., received regular updates of transfers of assets to his blind trusts and sales of assets. He also was able to initiate a stock sale of a hospital chain founded by his family with perfect timing. Shortly after the sale this summer, the stock price dived.

A possible presidential contender in 2008, Frist now faces dual investigations by the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York and the Securities and Exchange Commission into his stock sales.

msnbc.msn.com/id/9469609 /

I see there is an allegation of another “perfectly” timed stock deal. It’s almost painful to hear of millionaires so in the grip of material wealth that they cannot seem to get enough.

What separates the millionaires who feel a duty to give back and the millionaires who become corpulent with their own greed?

And another question I wrestle with is why do so many American people keep buying the morality play and yet ignore rampant greed - an obvious moral failing?

 

[gilliam]

Your condeming him too quickly. We don’t know if it wasn’t just a good business deal.

Capitalism is encouraged in the US.

 

[Fitz]

This is intersting for sure. I am not going to speculate either since he will be investigated. I am sure they will get to the bottom of it.

 

[gilliam]

I doubt if I will post on this thread again since we won’t know for sure what went on for awhile. But it seems he sold the stock because he was getting pressure to either divest his investments in hospitals or stop voting on health care bills.

A lot more information is here.

 

[thestickman]

1st it was baaad according to the left that Frist owned the stock. Now it’s supposed to be baaad that he sold it. As usual, there’s no right where the leftists and liberals are concerned.

 

[Thekla]

gilliam:

Your condeming him too quickly. We don’t know if it wasn’t just a good business deal.

Capitalism is encouraged in the US.

Greed is not always a crime, but it is generally a moral failing. I don’t see greed and capitalism as the same thing. Also, Frist isn’t accused of capitalism; that implies entrepreneurship. He comes a wealthy family. That’s hardly the same thing as capitalism.

 

[gilliam]

Thekla:

Greed is not always a crime, but it is generally a moral failing. I don’t see greed and capitalism as the same thing. Also, Frist isn’t accused of capitalism; that implies entrepreneurship. He comes a wealthy family. That’s hardly the same thing as capitalism.

Well, if he divested the stock because people were pressuring him to do so and accusing him of a conflict of interest, it wouldn’t be greed at all.

 

[Fitz]

Let’s all remember that it is not greed to buy stocks and sell stocks. We all have that right. It is what we do with our money that counts. If Bill Frist was doing something illegal, then he will pay for it. If not, then we don’t really have the right to be critical.

 

[mpav]

Here is a commentary on Frist: (Powerlineblog) I’m only posting part.powerlineblog.com/
"Senate Majority Leader Frist sold all of the stock in his family’s hospital corporation about two weeks before it issued a disappointing earnings report and the price fell dramatically. This news has given rise to a great outcry, mostly by leftist bloggers. But before reaching any conclusions as to misconduct or guilt, it’s always useful to know something about the area of law in question, not to mention the facts.
Professor Bainbridge is an expert in this area. He notes that unless Senator Frist had “material nonpublic information” about the hospital corporation at the time he ordered the sale, there is no legal problem. He further observes that unless Frist lacks “the common sense God gave gravel” he would not have allowed himself to possess such information. In this regard, TigerHawk points out that what Frist undoubtedly did know at the time of the sale is what everyone else paying attention knew – company management was selling off the stock is large quantities. Indeed, TigerHawk finds that Frist did not sell his stock during the big sell-off, and that the average investor had the opportunity to sell shares based on knowledge of the sell-off before Frist ordered his sale.

Bainbridge goes on to argue that, even if Frist had material nonpublic information about his corporation at the time he ordered the sale, the legal issue would hardly be open-and-shut. Frist could still argue that he did not make the trade based on the information, but rather because he wanted to divest himself of the stock in order to clear the decks for his presidential run. According to Bainbridge, the issue of whether that defense is available to First is unsettled. I doubt that Frist wants to be the test case.

Absent evidence that Frist had material non-public knowledge about his corporation, I see no reason why Frist should resign or even step aside temporarily pending any investigation."

 

[Thekla]

Thekla:

Greed is not always a crime, but it is generally a moral failing. I don’t see greed and capitalism as the same thing. Also, Frist isn’t accused of capitalism; that implies entrepreneurship. He comes a wealthy family. That’s hardly the same thing as capitalism.

And I had no idea how wealthy they are. Forbes Magazine puts the Frist family in the 1.1 billion range. Wow.

 

[gilliam]

Thekla:

And I had no idea how wealthy they are. Forbes Magazine puts the Frist family in the 1.1 billion range. Wow.

No law against being wealthy either. Not sinful either.

He did volunteer his time during this latest catastrophe, so I will give him that.