NEW TN SCANDAL MAY DELIVER 6TH SENATE SEAT TO DEMS! - rec

[Dems Will Win]

This is the 6th Senate seat it seems, as this scandal is much bigger than the 2 earlier Corker scandals. People understand the blind trust but apparently Corker illegally ignored the reason for setting them up.

Harold Ford, already 5 points ahead, will make a devastating TV ad out of this. If he can pull near-even in West TN, Corker is a loser.

Corker saw to interests in 'blind' trust, records show

Shared tips, met with firms' employees while in office
By Marc Perrusquia

October 11, 2006

A blind trust set up to shield businessman Bob Corker from conflicts when he was Chattanooga's mayor may not have been all that blind, record show. Corker met often with employees from his private companies while mayor from 2001 to 2005, and he shared business tips with others. Corker also got help organizing his 2001 mayoral campaign from City Hall, where a government secretary passed on voting lists and set up meetings for the millionaire commercial real estate developer.

These details appear among thousands of Chattanooga city e-mails documenting Corker's tenure as mayor. City officials reported this summer that Corker's e-mails had disappeared, yet many of his electronic notes survived in e-mail files of his executive assistant, Shirley Pond.

Asked about those e-mails, obtained by The Commercial Appeal, Corker said he's convinced his blind trust "worked very well.'' Yet to avoid any appearance of conflict if elected to the Senate, Corker said he's since sold most of his business holdings, including office buildings that leased to federal agencies.

"All I have now is two pieces of property (and) my home. ... I've got a pickup truck and the personal vehicles that our family has,'' Corker said. "I want for people to know: I've read about all these conflicts at the national level, and have bent over backwards.''

A spokesman for a public watchdog agency said some aspects of Corker's blind trust while mayor seem dubious.

...

Corker's business dealings have come under scrutiny during a tight, heated race with Democrat Harold Ford Jr. to replace retiring Sen. Bill Frist. Corker, with an estimated $35 million net worth, has drawn criticism for not releasing income tax schedules that detail sources of income, partnerships, and other business dealings.

...

Corker's Senate campaign has said he acted responsibly while mayor, and was shielded from knowledge of his personal affairs by a blind trust.

Records from his mayoral secretary's e-mail files, however, show Corker met frequently with some officials of his private company, the Corker Group.

...

http://www.commercialappeal.com/mca/politics/article/0,1426,MCA_1496_5057186,00.html

Here are some main media outlets, the Tennessean is important as they are middle to west TN where Corker is leading Ford. We should tie this to the missing financial records of Corker AS WELL AS THE GEORGE ALLEN STOCK OPTION SCANDAL. They didn't just get near the line they crossed it. Not the kind of Senators you want in a Republican majority!!

http://www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/frontpage

http://www.newschannel5.com/

http://www.wsmv.com/index.html?refresh=1200

http://www.wztv.com/

http://www.wkrn.com/

Please RECOMMEND to help get the word out on this new story in the Republican Culture of Corruption!

[Lars39]

1. K&R

Thank you for posting this,Dems Will Win.

[aquart]

2. kick

[woodsprite]

3. Hmmm, and didn't someone else we know

have a problem with "blind trusts"? Fri... Fritz the.... Oh no, that would be Frist the Cat Killer!

[Flirtus]

22. and who's on the road again with said cat killer?

why his handpicked successor, little corker.

[napi21]

4. Isn't this a similar offense to what Frist did?

His investigation is involving a blind trust too, and just howblind it really was!

[cynatnite]

5. I wonder if this is about those missing financial records n/t

[Hav]

6. .

Is this story big in Tennessee? Or should it be? With that I mean enough to have a lasting effect on the campaign.
There is a recent Survey USA Poll where Corker leads with 2. The last ones always showed Ford leading with more.

[Dems Will Win]

8. I posted the media links in TN to write letters to about this

Tie the refusal to give up his tax returns with Corker's new scandal on his not-so-blind trust.

[cynatnite]

11. It should be bigger...

On September 9, 2006, The Commercial Appeal reported that official records from both Corker's 2001 to 2005 service as mayor and his 1996 service as state finance commissioner are missing.<15> The missing records include letters written and received by Corker during a six month period in 1996 and e-mails written and received by Corker in his official capacity as mayor between 2001 and 2005.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Corker#Missing_papers

[me b zola]

7. k&r

[cyclezealot]

9. if its not sex , its money

Fundies still think the repugs are the moral party. Concerning money it's Corker, Allen(VA) sex, the list is endless. Foley. the the latest, Rep. Sherwood( PA.).

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

26. Greedy Old Perverts.

[cyclezealot]

37. shwewood is a particularily bad case.

He is accused of trying to strangle the ***** when she would not give him what he wanted. maybe he watches too many shcwarzenneger movies.

[WI_DEM]

10. It's certainly good news, but we can't be absolutely sure we will

win the five others (which I believe are PA, RI, OH, MO and Montana). PA and Montana seem good bets but RI, MO and OH, are still too close for my comfort. But thrilling news nevertheless. I honestly didn't think Ford would win this race six months ago, but he seems the favorite now.

[kay1864]

46. Mostly right

Substitute NJ for PA though. Zogby and Rasmussen have Casey way ahead of Santorum in PA.

[Tigress DEM]

12. And another secretary will be asked to fall on her sword --- email. nt

[cynatnite]

13. Emailed a couple of bloggers...

maybe this can get picked up by more news organizations.

[AtomicKitten]

14. Go Harold!

[cnlst8]

15. It depends if the local media decides to cover/follow this scandal.

After doing a quick look at TN TV/newspaper websites, I have a feely they won't cover it at all.

[Dems Will Win]

16. That's why we have to write e-mails and letters to them!

[Dems Will Win]

17. Someone should make a Corker & Allen Timeline

That would really be something!

ANY VOLUNTEERS??

Then we send that timeline out all over...

[Dems Will Win]

18. No volunteers?!?!

Here's a way to really help take the Senate back--and you don't have to get out of your pajamas--but no one volunteers?

Pretty please with a cherry on top?

Timelines are fun and you get lots of recommendations!

[Clark2008]

28. What do you mean?

How are they related?

[Dems Will Win]

33. They both used their power to enrich themselves in

what were supposed to be blind trusts and undisclosed financials. Frist too I think.

It's called conflict of interest.

[autoegocrat]

39. Front page news

This was on the front page of the Memphis paper. Marc Perresquia is a tough journalist, and it will take a few days for his story to percolate through the rest of the state.

[newyawker99]

45. Hi autoegocrat!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[ktowntennesseedem]

41. Its getting some coverage, but...

this is the kind of story that goes over the heads of most folks. That's why we elected ol' blind-trust cat-killer Bill in the first place. Sex, they understand, and if we ever come across a clip showing Corker and Foley as good buddies, then we'd really have something. But blind trusts? Most folks I know don't want to think about things that might require more that 2 seconds of thought. It might hurt their brains, and -GASP- they might even be tempted to change their minds!

[Dems Will Win]

19. kick

[wiley]

20. Jailtime for Corker?

[spanone]

21. Corker is trying to pull off that 'Aw Shucks Southern Thing' Ain't workin'

The people of Tennessee have seen his style of corruption before. I predict we will elect Harold Ford Jr. America is tired of this shit.

[civildisoBDence]

23. Uncork the champagne, crank up the Tennessee Ernie Ford...

...and turn off those Memphis blues.

'Cause Corker is toast, Tennessee is Ford's, and Memphis is turning a new kind of blue.

As for "That Aw Shucks Southern thing," I guess there's no need to pass up a chance to take a swipe at us backwards hillbillies--which is one reason the South has turned so red lately.

Newsprism

[Clark2008]

30. Tennessee HARRY Ford

:7

[spanone]

42. I'm from Nashville and that 'Aw Shucks' bullshit insults me.

Corker is no dummy, he's a crook.

[neuvocat]

24. Just another Mayberry Machiavelli.

[swag]

25. Oops, they Fristed again

[Clark2008]

27. Send 'em to East Tennessee, as well

Corker may be leading, but Ford is doing surprisingly well in this alleged bastion of Republicanism.

www.knoxnews.com

www.wbir.com

http://www.volunteertv.com/

http://www.wate.com/

http://chattanoogan.com/

[ThomWV]

29. You Meant To Say "7th Seat" nt

[tblue]

31. Good for Ford. Wish he hadn't voted to end habeas, still I hope he wins

I'd vote for a dead skunk before I'd vote for a Republican.

[politicasista]

32. Go for it Harold. Keep those gloves off! n/t

[liberalla]

34. good news!!!

glad to recommend!

[Bozita]

35. "Blind Trusts" can now see again. Bill Frist led the way ...

... with his "seeing-eye" innovative surgery on his HCA holdings.


http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/05268/577419.stm

Frist's 'blind trust' was quite open

Sunday, September 25, 2005
By The Associated Press


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.

The stock was in HCA Inc., a chain of hospitals founded in the late 1960s by Frist's father and brother. At the time of the sale, insiders also were selling. Shortly after that sale, the stock price dipped because of a warning that earnings would not meet Wall Street expectations.

more...


http://thinkprogress.org/frist-stock-timeline/

FRIST STOCK TIMELINE
Comment on the Frist timeline HERE.

1999
SEPTEMBER 13 – FRIST LEADING GOP HEALTH CARE AGENDA, MAINTAINS THAT HCA STOCK DOES NOT CREATE CONFLICT OF INTEREST: Frist’s key role this year in blocking President Clinton’s “patients’ bill of rights” proposal has brought new questions from Democrats and even some Republicans about whether the senator has a conflict of interest in health policy issue… acknowledges, however, he is aware that the money remains invested in Columbia/HCA, and he has reported the holdings and the income they produce in annual Senate financial disclosure reports…Frist rejects suggestions that he has any conflict of interest..is background and connections, he says, are an asset when Congress deals with health care.

2000

DECEMBER – FRIST’S HOLDINGS IN HCA VALUED BETWEEN $5 MILLION AND $25 MILLION: “The value of HCA stock in Frist’s trusts at the end of 2000 was between $5 million and $25 million, according to a disclosure he filed with the Senate ethics committee when he established the accounts.”

2002

MAY 16 – TRUSTEE TELLS FRIST HE PURCHASED $750K TO $1.5 MILLION IN HCA STOCK: “On May 16, 2002, Scobey advised Frist that four investments were contributed to a Frist blind trust, including HCA stock valued at $500,000 to $1 million. A second letter the same day mentions the same four investments going into a different trust, but with different valuations, including HCA stock valued at $250,000 to $500,000.”

DECEMBER 23 – FRIST BECOMES MAJORITY LEADER

2003

EARLY JANUARY – TRUSTEE TELLS FRIST 15K-50K OF HCA STOCK HAS BEEN CONTRIBUTED TO TRUST: “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.”

LATE JANUARY – FRIST SAYS IT IS “ILLEGAL” FOR HIM TO KNOW THE COMPOSITION OF HIS BLIND TRUST: “Well, 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.”

FRIST CHAMPIONS MEDICARE PRESCRIPTION DRUG BILL THAT DIRECTLY BENEFITS HCA, REFUSES TO SELL HCA STOCK: “Although he himself is said to have put his large interest in HCA into a blind trust (with the approval of the Senate Select Committee on Ethics), it still remains true that whatever is good for HCA is good for Bill Frist. And it is undeniable that Medicare policies affect the fortunes of the company. Yet Frist has become an important voice on health policy in the Senate, and now that he is majority leader, his influence will grow.”

2004

APRIL – FRIST LEADS MEDICAL MALPRACTICE REFORM EFFORTS; REFUSES TO SELL HCA STOCK AFTER CONSUMER GROUP FILES ETHICS COMPLAINT: “A California-based consumer group asked a Senate panel Tuesday to bar Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist from participating in the current debate over medical malpractice reform because of his ties to the nation’s largest for-profit hospital chain. The Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights said HCA, Inc., the Nashville-based hospital chain founded by Frist’s father and older brother, and its malpractice insurance subsidiary would benefit financially from Frist-backed legislation to limit liability…”

2005

JUNE 10 – 6 HCA INSIDERS COMPLETE 10-DAY, $18.6 MILLION STOCK SALE: “From June 1 to June 10, six insiders sold a total of 341,300 shares valued at $18.6 million, according to Thompson Financial.”

JUNE 13 – FRIST TELLS TRUSTEE TO SELL ALL HIS SHARES OF HCA: “According to Frist’s office, the senator decided to sell all his HCA stock — held in blind trusts managed by two companies for him, his wife and his children — on June 13.” This is only permitted under Senate rules if Frist had assumed (or was going to assume) new “duties.’

JUNE 22 – HCA HITS 52-WEEK HIGH OF $58.40:HCA stock had increased 47% in the previous year.

JULY 1 – SALE OF FRIST SHARES COMPLETED

JULY 13 – HCA WARNS OF WEAKENING EARNINGS; STOCK LOSES 9% OF VALUE: “he stock’s price dropped 9 percent in a single day because of a warning from the company about weakening earnings.” The stock was down 15% from the June 22 high.

SEPTEMBER 20 – FRIST CLAIMS HE SOLD THE SHARES TO “AVOID ANY APPEARANCE OF A CONFLICT OF INTEREST”: Amy Call, Sen. Frist’s spokeswoman said, “To avoid any appearance of a conflict of interest Senator Frist went beyond what ethics requires and sold the stock.”

SEPTEMBER 22 – FRIST’S OFFICE REVEALS SEC IS INVESTIGATING HIS HCA STOCK SALE

SEPTEMBER 23 – HCA REVEALS IT HAS SUBPEONED BY DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE REGARDING FRIST STOCK SALE: “Federal prosecutors and the Securities and Exchange Commission are looking into Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist’s sale of stock in HCA at a time when insiders at the hospital operating company were also selling off shares.”

[McCamy Taylor]

36. Mayor builds city road through nature refuge next to land he owns

in a "blind trust". Next day "blind trust" sells land to WallMart for $4.6 million? You could get a kindergartener to read this on TV and it would still be a compelling reason not to vote for this guy.

[autorank]

38. I like this so much I just tried to recommend it again! SERIOUS QUESTION

Win is the name of the game.

Now here's something serious.

I saw a list of people supporting Lieberman (warning, Barf Bag Alert!):

‘Dems for Joe’ Unveiled
Ex-Members, Clinton Vets Back Lieberman

By Nicole Duran
Roll Call Staff
http://www.rollcall.com/issues/52_34/news/15232-1.html
September 28, 2006

Democratic Congressional leaders may be keeping their distance from Sen. Joe Lieberman (D-Conn.) since he opted to seek re-election as an Independent, but a group of more than 50 former Senators, House Members and Clinton administration officials will proudly announce the creation of “Dems for Joe” today.

A common thread among the geographically and ideologically diverse group is a sense that Lieberman was unfairly being portrayed as a “bad” Democrat.

“It just seemed to me, and apparently a lot of the folks who also know Joe, that here is a really good Democrat with a great Democratic voting record and background,” said former Rep. Norman D’Amours (N.H.), who helped get the group off the ground.

“It just seemed ‘Hey what’s going on here?’” he asked. “This guy is a Democrat and people should know that. We just started talking to each other and it grew.”

Other founding members include former Sens. David Boren (Okla.), Bob Kerrey (Neb.), John Breaux (La.) and Dennis DeConcini (Ariz.); former Reps. Mel Levine (Calif.) and Leon Panetta (Calif.), who served as chief of staff to President Bill Clinton; former Clinton Agriculture Secretary and former Rep. Mike Espy (Miss.); and former Clinton CIA Director James Woolsey.

They join a much smaller group of incumbent Democratic Senators who have endorsed Lieberman in the general election. Sens. Tom Carper (Del.), Ken Salazar (Colo), Mark Pryor (Ark.), Mary Landrieu (La.) and Ben Nelson (Neb.) all have decided to stick by Lieberman.

Look at this list of party turn coats - which brings me to the question we have to define as activists:

WHAT DOES VICTORY MEAN?

If it means more Bankruptcy Bills, more tax cuts for the rich, more bull shit in Iraq, and no boldness whatsoever, then we've got to gear up to pressure these people who are so uncommitted to their party that they can't even support the Democratic candidate in Connecticut. We can't get rid of these guys but somebody has to knock some heads and make them vote properly.

LOOK WHO IS ON THIS LIST: James Woolsey, former CIA director who practically drooled over the Iraq war and power this would give us. The guy is a screw ball. Look at the ex Senators - Bob Kerry, as in Bob "don't ever run for the Democratic nomination after this" Kerry.

Things are so bad, we only have one chance; if we blow it, there will be a huge upheaval and our chance will be gone. Salazar, Nelson (Neb), Pryor, Landrieu, Carper, they're all betraying the party.

They need a good talking to and a lot of pressure from their states.

[The Count]

40. Depends. What voting system? Plus in 2000, Gore didn't really lose TN

So, don't get too dreamy about this - logic doesn't apply when elections are a sham.

[Dob Bole]

43. K& R..please alert the media!

nt

[klook]

44. Timeline of Corker's 2003 deal to profit off sale of protected land

In checking on Bob Corker's shady past, I came across an article in the Chattanoogan about his 2003 scam to profit off the sale of a publicly protected former nature preserve.

Ford Campaign Hits "Shady Corker Land Deal" At Eastgate
--posted September 19, 2006

The Harold Ford for Senate Campaign said newly released Corker Administration internal documents "show that Mayor Bob Corker’s chief of staff and communications director closely monitored a shady land deal in which Mayor Corker destroyed a conservation easement - held by the city of Chattanooga - so that he could pocket $4.7 million."

The Ford campaign said, "As the Memphis Commercial Appeal has reported in two page-one stories, the key to the deal was the Corker’s administration approval of construction of an access road over the nature preserve, paving over the very conservation easement Corker was legally obligated to protect.

"Instead, Corker’s Osborne Building Corporation developed the land--while mayor - selling it to a shopping center developer in July 2003 for $4.7 million. Corker has released information showing he made more money while mayor than he did in the previous 24 years of his life -combined.

"Corker’s explanations of how the deal occurred now are coming unraveled.

More: http://www.chattanoogan.com/articles/article_93132.asp

And here's a copy of the timeline I created, based on the Chattanoogan article (sorry for the small size -- Photobucket limitation):

[GeorgeGist]

47. This from E Tennessee, where Repubs usually rule...

HEART OF THE MATTER: Harold Ford and the Playboy bunnies

The National Republican Senatorial Committee has a commercial accusing Harold Ford of partying with Playboy bunnies, among other things. The overall message of the ad is to ask, "What kind of man is Harold Ford?"
Advertisement


"What kind of man parties with Playboy Playmates in lingerie, then films commercials from a church pew?" the ad asks.

It's a stretch to say Ford parties with Playboy bunnies. The ad's only source is a Capitol Hill gossip column (Roll Call's "Heard on the Hill"). We can't confirm Ford attended at all.

Of the 1700 people who did attend, 30 to 50 of them were Playboy models, fewer than 3%. Many of the models wore street clothes, rather than lingerie. Playboy says it's mostly a celebrity party. The year Ford allegedly attended, he might have bumped into Owen Wilson, Eddie George, or one of the judges from "American Idol." ... more
http://www.wbir.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=38634&provider=kns

[klook]

48. Ford reminded everyone who the real degenerates are

"I'm not going to take a lecture on morality from a party that took hush money from a child predator," said Ford Wednesday in Memphis, TN after speaking to the downtown Kiwanis Club.

source: http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalradar/2006/10/ford_uses_foley.html

[Dems Will Win]

49. Thanks for this!

Good on you!