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Wednesday, September 21, 2005 |
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Just a Lucky Guy, I Guess. . . Gee, remember when Hillary Clinton's cattle stock profits caused right wingers to get up on their hind legs and bleat with righteous indignation? Of course that was then, and that was Hillary, not kindly Dr. Frist. Kindly? Christ, look at that face, those eyes. Christopher Walken would play him in the movie.
Sen. Frist sells HCA stock; then price falls The sale helps minimize allegations that he has a conflict of interest on health-care issues as he considers a run for president. Frist's brother, Thomas, is a former chief executive officer and current director of the company.
Frist spokeswoman Amy Call said the senator had no knowledge of when the stock actually sold. He requested the sale June 13, but the execution of the sale was up to the blind trust that manages his holdings. "Frist had no control over when the stocks were sold. The trustee could have chosen to hold them or sell at any time. Also, we don't know when the stock was sold, only when we were notified." She said Frist was notified of sales on July 1 and July 8. An HCA spokesman said the company had no part in Frist's decision. "He never had any relationship to the company to begin with. ... He never even practiced here," said HCA spokesman Jeff Prescott, who added that the Nashville-based company has had no legislative relationship with the majority leader. "We specifically never lobby him." Until the sale, Frist, his wife and their three sons owned an undisclosed amount of HCA stock in blind trusts. On July 13, HCA warned shareholders that second-quarter earnings would fall short of Wall Street's expectations. The company's shares fell 8.8% that day. A California-based watchdog group, the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights, had complained to the Senate Ethics Committee last year that Frist's holdings posed a conflict because of his support for legislation limiting medical-malpractice lawsuits, which could benefit HCA and its subsidiaries if it passed. The Ethics Committee dismissed that complaint because the Tennessee Republican never worked for HCA, but his office "There was no compelling reason for him to do it because it's not a conflict," Call said. "He wanted to ensure that in the future there were no appearance issues. He went ahead and just decided that it was the best thing to do." Frist is considering a run for the GOP's 2008 presidential nomination, and some observers suggested Monday that selling the stock was designed to head off scrutiny of his relationship with HCA during the primary campaign. "This is preemptive damage control for his presidential campaign," said Phil Singer, a spokesman for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. "It should have been done when he first started working on legislation that impacted the company." If he does run, the sale could help blunt attacks by GOP rivals, said Jack Pitney, a professor of government at Claremont McKenna College and a former Republican operative. "He does remove a potential conflict, as well as a potential political problem. Managed care is not real popular, and he probably doesn't want to remind people of his association with it." In his last annual personal financial disclosure statement, filed in May, Frist reported a net worth of $15 million-$45 million, mostly in blind trusts created when he entered politics in 1994. Senate ethics rules allowed him to direct the sale, even though he could not know how much HCA stock he still owned. The rules say he cannot be notified of how much money the sale made. Frist's late father, Thomas Frist, founded the company in 1968. His brother, Thomas Frist Jr., is still the largest shareholder, owning more than $271 million in stock. Government filings indicate Thomas Frist Jr. last sold HCA stock on March 7. The company has posed a political problem for Frist for years. In 1999, U.S. Rep. Harold Ford Jr., a Memphis Democrat then considering a challenge to Frist in the 2000 election, asked the Senate ethics panel to rule on the Republican's holdings. It found no conflict. HCA employees and its political-action committee have given Frist $83,450 — more money in campaign contributions over his career than any other donor, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, a nonpartisan watchdog group. But although Frist's position on medical malpractice changes prompted last year's ethics complaint from the California group, major physician groups such as the American Medical Association also have pressed the majority leader — a former heart and lung transplant surgeon at Vanderbilt University Medical Center — to push that legislation. Under Senate rules, lawmakers can support legislation that would benefit themselves or their family, as long as it has a broad impact on the rest of the nation. • 4:23:11 PM  comment []
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HEY HEY, LOOK AT US! WE'VE FINALLY GOT OUR HEAD OUT OF OUR ASS! NO, REALLY! C'MON, TAKE A LOOK! PLEASE? Bush Administration Touts Rita Readiness - - - - - - - - - - - - By LARA JAKES JORDAN Association Press Writer September 21,2005 | WASHINGTON -- Eager to avoid the public pounding he got for his response to Hurricane Katrina, President Bush pledged to be "ready for the worst" as another big hurricane headed for the Gulf Coast. Across the federal government, officials were advertising the Bush administration's stepped-up response plans for Hurricane Rita as it swept across the Gulf of Mexico toward the Texas coastline. Bush pleaded with people in the region to comply with mandatory evacuation orders issued in New Orleans and Galveston, Texas. And he said that federal, state and local governments are in close coordination on the preparation. "I urge the citizens to listen carefully to the instructions provided by state and local authorities and follow them," Bush said in a speech to the Republican Jewish Coalition. "We hope and pray that Hurricane Rita will not be a devastating storm but we got to be ready for the worst." Hundreds of truckloads of water, ice and ready-made meals arrived Tuesday at locations in Rita's path and rescue and medical teams were standing by. "I think we're going to be ready when it does hit land," Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff promised. Salon provides breaking news articles from the Associated Press as a service to its readers, but does not edit the AP articles it publishes. © 2005 The Associated Press. 1:16:20 PM comment []
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Bushism of the Day "We want our teachers to be trained so they can meet the obligations, their obligations as teachers. We want them to know how to teach the science of reading. In order to make sure there's not this kind of federal—federal cufflink." --at Fritsche Middle School, Milwaukee, March 30, 2000 12:03:22 PM comment []
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Why Democrats Are Winning in the West By Rep. Mark Udall (D-Colo.) "The people have spoken - the bastards." So said legendary Democratic political operative and Nixon antagonist Dick Tuck after losing his bid for a California state Senate seat in 1964. Democrats may have been mouthing the same words the morning after Election Day as it became clear that Americans reelected President Bush and increased the Republican majorities in both the House and Senate. Pundits have wasted no time insisting that our nation is divided between so-called "red" and "blue" states - as if another civil war were in the works. But Democrats should look beyond red and blue and toward the so-called purple states, particularly in the Rocky Mountain West. For two elections, Western and Southwest voters have turned their states into shades of purple, and if you consider voter attitudes and the changing demographics of the region, it is likely that these states will be permanent battleground states in presidential elections. Any future Democratic electoral strategy must include the West. In 2002, voters elected Democratic governors in Wyoming, New Mexico and Arizona. In 2004, Colorado voters elected a new Democratic U.S. senator and a new Democratic House member from a rural, Republican district and put Democrats in control of both chambers of the Colorado General Assembly for the first time in 44 years. In addition, Coloradoans showed their green side by approving ballot measures to build a multibillion-dollar mass-transit project and to require utility companies to derive more of their energy from renewable sources like the wind and the sun. Voters in Utah reelected Democratic Rep. Jim Matheson with 56 percent of the vote, and Montana Democrats swept the governor's office for the first time since 1988 and regained control of both houses of the Legislature for the first time since 1960. In the presidential race, Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) was competitive in Arizona and did better than expected in Colorado and Nevada while barely losing New Mexico. Why are Democrats winning in this part of the country? With more people moving West and an increasing Latino population, the Four Corners region has added 1 million new registered voters, and many of these voters do not align themselves with a political party. In Colorado, unaffiliated voters make up the second largest group of voters in the state. This surge in unaffiliated voters has created more competitive elections and more ticket-splitting, which dispels the popular belief that the West and Southwest are red states. They're not - they are independent states. Along with demographics, Western Democrats have succeeded on the message front by offering common-sense solutions to challenges Americans face in their daily lives. We understand that environmental protection and economic development go hand in hand. Our economy depends on healthy public lands and clean water and air in which to hunt, fish, mountain bike and ski. We support vibrant rural communities - which often are ignored by policymakers - responsible oil and gas development and reliable transportation systems that move people and goods. Corporations of the New West economy - high-tech, biotech and telecommunications - relocate to our states and create jobs because we offer these amenities and this quality of life. We also support strong families, and that's why we seek ways to create first-rate schools and colleges and universities, to make healthcare more accessible and affordable and to make our communities safer. And, like any responsible parent, we don't want to pass on huge debts to our children, so we believe in fiscal responsibility, sensible tax relief and balanced budgets. Finally, the Republican Party does not have a monopoly on moral values. Western Democrats respect and celebrate people of faith, but when it comes to civil liberties, Westerners want their privacy to be respected and value the right to be left alone. My Mormon ancestors came west to pursue religious freedom and in the process discovered how inspirational our landscapes could be. Our Western culture is rich because of our diversity, not in spite of it. Faith plays an important role in people's lives, and we should embrace that fact and not condescend to it or dismiss it. I'm not suggesting that Western Democrats have all the answers, but for two consecutive elections we have run winning campaigns with independent politicians who understand average Americans, who bridge the New West with the Old West, and who have common-sense solutions to the challenges we face in our nation. By looking west, Democrats can find answers on how to engage voters and win. The future of our party depends on it. Udall represents the 2nd Congressional District in Colorado and was just elected to a fourth term. 11:41:15 AM comment []
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Fertile Ground? Democratic pundits have been saying for quite some time now that the West is ripe for the picking. In places where they have already triumphed, Western Democrats have eschewed the old right-center-left paradigm. Knowing full well that what works in Boston, New York or San Francisco doesn't necessarily fly in Cheyenne, Billings or Albuquerque, the Westerners have left knee-jerk Liberalism behind, adopting a strategy of Progressive Populism that has, in the past few years, propelled people like Brian Schweitzer, Bill Richardson, Janet Napolitano and Dave Freudenthal to governorships, and took over the legislatures of Colorado and Montana in our bitter-pill election year of 2004. Below is the mission statement of a group called Democrats For The West, which provides a vision for a viable campaign to break the repressive stranglehold the Republican Party has on this nation. Some of their ideas might not be pleasing to old-line Liberals, to which I say: tough. Adapt or die.
Democrats Launch Group to Build Strength, Majorities in WestDemocrats for the West to Provide New Leadership For Nation’s Fast-Growing RegionWestern Democrats announced the creation of Democrats for the West, a coalition of Democratic leaders and activists from eight interior western states and Alaska. The new organization, composed of Democratic stalwarts such as Stewart Udall, Cecil Andrus and Mike Sullivan, rising stars, and party activists, brings together Democrats from across the region to build long-term governing majorities throughout the West – one of the nation’s fastest-growing regions. “The values of the West are the same values of the Democratic Party,” said former Denver Mayor Wellington Webb. “As Democrats, we will not abdicate the West by default to the Republican Party.” The group, created with help from state Democratic parties, will unite Democrats across state lines, add value to state party efforts, and share ideas and resources. The nine states represented in the new regional endeavor include Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming. “Democrats have made significant gains recently in the West,” said Cecil Andrus, former governor of Idaho and Secretary of the Interior. “We believe our region deserves leadership that provides hope and opportunity for all westerners.” Drawing from a rich history of Democratic leadership, Democrats for the West is focusing on common western challenges and opportunities, including:
“This is an important coming together of Democrats across the West,” said former Arizona Congressman and Interior Secretary Stewart Udall, who helped to create the group. “The current administration has betrayed conservative traditional values like balancing the budget, taking care of our elderly, and protecting our land for future generations. They’re the first anti-conservation administration since before Teddy Roosevelt. They’re not conservatives by any stretch of the imagination and have ignored what has made our country great – traditional western values. We western Democrats understand we can’t afford to squander the precious opportunities and landscapes given to us. This is our common charge as westerners.” Democrats have seen resurgence in the West in recent years, winning governor’s seats in Arizona, New Mexico and Wyoming in 2002 and gaining seats in the Idaho and Montana legislatures. Democrats now control both houses in the New Mexico Legislature and mayoral seats in Anchorage, Billings, Boise, Denver, Juneau, Las Vegas, Phoenix, Salt Lake City, and Santa Fe, to name only a few. States across the West, including Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada, Colorado and Montana, are expected to be critical in this year’s presidential election. In the near term, Democrats for the West will:
The Founders Committee for Democrats for the West includes prominent Democratic leaders from across the West. They are:
Regional meetings were held in Salt Lake City in May 2003 and Boise in December 2003 to formulate the development and founding of Democrats for the West. "The western states have been sorely forgotten by the Bush administration," said Dennis DeConcini, former U.S. Senator from Arizona. "Instead of protecting the western interest, they have let it be used for the special interests. There is a better way." "We're proud of our western heritage, and proud of our western Democratic leaders who paved the way for our region and country, leaders like Scott Matheson, Mike Mansfield, Frank Church and Mo and Stewart Udall," said former U.S. Representative Karen Shepherd of Utah. "These great leaders matched our inspiring landscapes with their vision, using their western ideals to put our region on the national map." "I look forward to working with my colleagues in the West to forge a strategy to ensure that the rapidly growing Hispanic population in the region knows that they will be equal partners within the Democratic Party, that their voices will be heard, that their numbers can help tip the balance of power in all of our states, and, that together, we can help improve the quality of life for all westerners," said Toney Anaya, former governor of New Mexico and a national Hispanic leader. "Everyone knows there's a commonality of issues in the West," said former Wyoming Governor Mike Sullivan. "That's why Democrats for the West is so important. Wyoming and the West will benefit by having stronger representation of our issues in the Democratic Party. Wyoming and the West will benefit by having a stronger two-party system." Former U.S. Representative Pat Williams of Montana emphasized that "Democrats for the West is not an alternative to state Democratic Party organizations. We are an enhancer. We plan to help elect more Democrats from the West and help focus national attention on our issues. For too long, we've allowed Republicans to define what our party stands for in the West. We're standing together as westerners to make it clear that Democrats are for the West, Democrats understand the West, and Democrats are good for the West." 11:36:29 AM comment []
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Give 'em Hell, Lori! (Figuratively, Of Course) Non-Believers Raising Voice in Capital By Jill Lawrence, USA TODAY Mon Sep 19, 8:32 AM ET Americans who don't believe in God have decided it's time they had a lobbyist in the nation's capital. Their new advocate describes herself as a "soft, fuzzy atheist." Lori Lipman Brown starts Monday as executive director of the Secular Coalition for America. Her two goals: keep religion out of government and win respect for a stigmatized minority.
The magnitude of those challenges is, well, biblical. Think Daniel entering the lion's den, or David taking on Goliath. Christian conservatives wield enormous clout here through a network of advocacy groups and relationships with politicians from President Bush on down. Atheists, humanists and freethinkers, as Brown's constituents call themselves, are usually ignored . Is she scared? "Nah," says Brown, 47, an atheist with a Jewish background. "It feels good to be the first." Brown likens atheists today to gays in the 1970s: people just coming out of the closet to fight for acceptance. "There's been so much rhetoric in the past decade about how important religion is to being a good person," she says, that "it's been scary" for people to say they don't believe in God. She vows to "use the A-word and not cringe." In a recent Pew Research Center poll, 11% said they do not believe in God but do believe in a "universal spirit" or "higher power"; 3% said they do not believe in God or a spirit or power. In a separate question, 1% said they are atheists (those who believe there is no God), 2% said they are agnostics (those unsure whether there is a God), and 11% said they have no religious preference. The no-preference category includes people "who may not be ready to declare themselves atheists or agnostics," Pew Director Andrew Kohut says. Herb Silverman, president of the Secular Coalition for America, counts them as non--believers - part of "a 30-million-strong constituency that is informed about the issues and votes." Brown plans to work for non-believers in three ways: • As part of broad coalitions fighting policies rooted in religious beliefs, such as limits on stem cell research and access to emergency contraception. • In alliances with groups opposed to policies they believe breach the wall between church and state, such as giving taxpayer money to "faith-based" service programs. • On causes Brown concedes are hard for politicians and the public to swallow, such as eliminating references to God from the U.S. oath of citizenship. She plans to stay out of the Pledge of Allegiance controversy for now because "the courts are on our side." Last week, a federal judge reaffirmed an earlier ruling that teacher-led recitation of the Pledge's phrase "under God" in public schools is an unconstitutional government endorsement of religion. Gary Bauer, a Christian conservative and former presidential candidate who now lobbies against gay marriage and for conservative values, says atheists' timing couldn't be worse, given Hurricane Katrina. "We're right in the middle of a horrible event when people are turning to God," he says. "They're going to find it very hard to get people to vote for the sort of things they're in favor of." Brown says she doesn't expect immediate success on tough issues but, as the only advocate for non--believers in Washington, it's her job to raise them. "We want to get people thinking about what they do that excludes us," she says. "The things that ... perpetuate the idea that we are outsiders - that we can't be patriotic or that we can't be moral or ethical - when in reality our community is tremendously active in making the world a better place to live." A lawyer and teacher, Brown is used to controversy. As a Nevada state senator from 1992 to 1994, she fought for gun control, gay rights and abortion rights. She says she received threats and hate messages and calls. Five humanist and atheist groups formed the Secular Coalition for America after the Sept. 11 attacks, unsettled by talk linking God and patriotism. "That was a major impetus to try to raise our profile," said Duncan Crary, a spokesman for one coalition member, the Institute for Humanist Studies in Albany, N.Y. The institute had a lobbyist, Tim Gordinier, at the New York Legislature but nobody at Congress. "The cultural wars are going to be fought in Washington, D.C.," Gordinier says. "This is where we're going to have our skirmishes." The first-year budget for the coalition office here, including Brown's salary and a six-month stipend for a legislative assistant, is $100,000. That's minuscule for a Washington lobbying office. Brown, who taught college-level constitutional law as well as high school English, is taking a pay cut. "It's important to do the work, even if you're not a high-paid lobbyist," she says. "At least there'll be an atheist voice in the mix." 1:17:43 AM comment []
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How Dare They Send Us Food! Hey, We Don't Beg Other Countries For Food, Goddammit, Other Countries Beg Us! Goddamn Foreigners, Who Do They Think They Are?
EXCLUSIVE: UP IN FLAMES
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