Congressional R's to the rescue!

I've been a little concerned about the balance of the Upper Left Scandal Scorecard. Surely the Congressional Republicans are every bit as corrupt as the Administration, right? But I've found scant evidence to support that assumption. A big Upper Left thank you, then, to Senator Bill Frist and Representative Henry Bonilla for their hard work in proving me right...err...correct.

The Foundation for Taxpayer & Consumer Rights is asking for an investigation of Bill Frist's promotion of legislation to limit medical malpractice awards while holding major investments ($13 million worth at last accounting) in the Hospital Corporation of America (HCA), which has been run primarily by Frist's father, Thomas Frist, and brother, Thomas Frist Jr. An HCA subsidiary, Health Care Indemnity, is the nation's sixth-largest medical malpractice insurance company, with $260 million in premiums annually.

"We believe this conflict should disqualify Senator Frist from involvement in any legislation concerning liability limits benefiting hospitals and malpractice insurers, and can no longer be overlooked," Carmen Balber, the foundation's consumer advocate, said in the letter.

Meanwhile, Rep. Henry Bonilla's American Dream PAC, which he reportedly operates "to give significant, direct financial assistance to first-rate minority GOP candidates," isn't operating quite as reported. Since the Texas Republican took control of the PAC in 1999, only $48,750 -- or 8.9 percent -- of the $547,000 it's raised has gone to minority office-seekers.

Where's the rest? Well, the Washington Post reports that "...more than $100,000 has been routed to Republican Party organizations or causes, including a GOP redistricting effort in Texas, a legal defense fund for House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (Tex.) and Bonilla's reelection campaign. Most of the remainder of the money went to legal fees, fundraisers in Miami and other cities, airline tickets, hotels, catering services, consultants and salaries."

And then there's the $119,021 that the PAC's former treasurer embezzled...simply scandalous.

(By the way, if you just can't get enough of this stuff, Dan Conley has a list
deserving of your attention. Some of it's already on ours, and some soon will be, I'm sure...)