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Frist Will Not Seek Presidency In 2008 CBS News Interactive: The 109th Congress CBS News: 2008 Republican Hopefuls (AP) WASHINGTON Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist will not run for president in 2008, Republican officials said Wednesday, as the field of White House contenders continued to shrink more than a year before the first convention delegates are chosen. Frist's formal announcement was expected later in the day. His decision caps a 12-year stint in electoral politics in which he rose from an underdog in his 1994 Senate campaign to the position of majority leader a mere eight years later. The decision...

Former U.S. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist said he will consider running for governor during a visit today to Knoxville, where he's giving two lectures sponsored by the University of Tennessee's Howard H. Baker Jr. Center for Public Policy. During his first talk, "Health Care: Back to the Future, 2015," at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, Frist - a cardio-thoracic transplant surgeon - recounted seeking Baker's advice on his political campaign and being advised not to run for governor. Frist said he may have to revisit the former senator on that point. "I may need to talk to him (again) about...

WASHINGTON -- Former Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist of Tennessee, who took himself out of the 2008 race for president, will teach a graduate class this fall at the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at his alma mater, Princeton University, the university announced Tuesday. Frist, 55, will teach a course on health policy in the fall and teach a similar subject to an undergraduate course in the spring. "It's an honor to return to the Woodrow Wilson School as a member of its distinguished faculty," Frist said in a statement released by Princeton. "My journey with the...

The unofficial, unconfirmed list of Paul D. Wolfowitz successors got a little more interesting, with The Wall Street Journal putting a shiny star next to the name of Bill Frist, the former Senate majority leader. Mr. Frist, who was mentioned as a candidate in The New York Times last week, is receiving “especially close scrutiny” from the White House, The Journal reported today. Scrutinizing the scrutinizers are World Bank shareholders seeking a more transparent selection process, including representatives from Brazil, South Korea, China and Pakistan, Reuters reported. Mr. Wolfowitz’s nomination was a surprise to several shareholders, and his swift hiring...

WASHINGTON -- The White House is starting to draw up a list of potential nominees to lead the World Bank, and former U.S. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, a heart surgeon who has traveled widely in Africa, is getting especially close scrutiny for the job. Also receiving long looks are Treasury Deputy Secretary Robert Kimmitt and Robert Zoellick, the former U.S. trade representative now working at Goldman Sachs Group Inc., according to individuals familiar with White House deliberations.

Petraeus was accidentally shot and nearly killed in a 1991 training exercise. The bullet just missed his heart. Physician and future Republican Sen. Bill Frist of Tennessee operated for five hours to save him.

Double Standard: It took 18 months of wasted taxpayers' dollars to clear former Senate GOP leader Bill Frist of insider-trading charges. Now let's probe Sen. Harry Reid, who made a million selling someone else's land. From the beginning, it was clear that Frist's sale of stock two years ago in his family's company, Hospital Corp. of America, was on the up and up. It was public knowledge for months that HCA management was engaged in an increasingly intense sell-off as the firm's stock price rose steadily. The M.D.'s meticulously kept e-mails provided the Securities and Exchange Commission with ironclad documentation...

Ending an investigation that clouded the tenure of former Senate majority leader Bill Frist, federal prosecutors have decided not to file insider-trading charges against the Tennessee Republican for his sales of stock in a family-owned chain of hospitals. The U.S. Attorney in the Southern District of New York and Securities and Exchange Commission staff sent Frist letters last week signaling that they had closed their joint, 18-month investigation. The letters essentially cleared him of wrongdoing. Frist said in a statement that he "acted properly" and that his only reason for selling stock in his trust accounts was to "eliminate the...

Bill Frist, former senate majority leader, former presidential aspirant, and current promoter of the idea of Fred Thompson as president of the United States, sends out an email this morning. Thompson, current actor on 'Law and Order' and former Tennessee senator himself, is mulling a run for the White House, or so Frist would have us believe. Here's what Frist is telling supporters: Three things I need to share this morning: I talked to Fred Thompson last night, really just to share with him the tremendous support that he has received from all of you who have blogged on the...

Former Majority Leader Sen. Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) is seriously considering a gubernatorial run in Tennessee in 2010, possibly setting up a White House bid further down the road. Sources in Washington and Tennessee say Frist, who will turn 55 next month, is leaning heavily toward a run for the governor’s office, where he could gain executive experience that might position him to try for the presidency in either 2012 or 2016. “It’s a done deal,” said a source with knowledge of Frist’s plans. Frist was considering a 2008 presidential run until late last year, when he announced he would not...

This just in across the wires: NEWS ALERT from The Wall Street Journal Nov. 29, 2006 Leaving behind a Republican void in the South, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist said he has put aside plans to run for the White House in 2008. In an interview, the Tennessee Republican said he wanted a "sabbatical from public life," suggesting the 54-year-old heart surgeon-turned-politician could very well return to politics in the future. For more information, see: http://www.rightsideredux.com/2006/11/frist-admits-defeat.html Is John McCain next? Don't hold your breath. Anyway, thanks for your service Senator. Regardless of your surgeon skills to carve out bleeding hearts....

This just in across the wires: NEWS ALERT from The Wall Street Journal Nov. 29, 2006 Leaving behind a Republican void in the South, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist said he has put aside plans to run for the White House in 2008. In an interview, the Tennessee Republican said he wanted a "sabbatical from public life," suggesting the 54-year-old heart surgeon-turned-politician could very well return to politics in the future. For more information, see: http://www.rightsideredux.com/2006/11/frist-admits-defeat.html Is John McCain next? Don't hold your breath. Anyway, thanks for your service Senator. Regardless of your surgeon skills to carve out bleeding hearts....

November 29, 2006 Breaking: Frist Won't Run Sources close to outgoing Maj. Leader Bill Frist tell the Hotline that Frist has decided not to run for President. He will make a formal announcement this afternoon, the sources said. Frist made the decision in recent days after consulting family, friends and advisers.

Republicans who limped back to Washington for a lame duck congressional session last week found a host of marching orders from President Bush, but perhaps none more urgent than this: Before Democrats take control of Congress in January, they must pass legislation authorizing the National Security Agency's domestic eavesdropping program. His plea for a legislative stamp of approval on the controversial spy effort is an "important priority in the war on terror," Bush said. The response: deafening silence. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist quickly dispatched aides to put out the word on Bush's request: Not gonna happen. Outgoing Senate Judiciary...

For a change it’s the Republicans who have some soul-searching to do after the elections. There is no doubt that the Republicans failed to control spending, failed to control illegal immigration, and failed to reform social security. Nevertheless, the biggest failure of the Republican Party has been communication with the American people. Ronald Reagan was the Great Communicator. George Bush can’t connect subject and predicate . Bill Frist looks like a doctor telling his patient that she has cancer and Denny Hastert just looks like he wants directions to the local pub. In spite of the proverbial six year itch,...

Already you're seeing people criticizing outgoing Sen. Majority Leader Bill Frist for the failures in the Senate. Frist certainly deserves to take hits over his inability to control the likes of Sen. John McCain during legislative battles, but without Frist the election might have looked even worse. Tennessee right now is the only strategic hold the Republicans got on Tuesday night, and it was largely because the Frist operation saw Corker's problems earlier this year, took charge of the campaign and got him back on track. And while some Republicans - Allen, perhaps being the greatest offender - chose not...

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., weighed in on the Sen. John Kerry firestorm with a comment on his VolPac.org blog. Frist, infuriated by Kerry's comments, suggested the junior senator from Massachusetts may have dealt a blow to his own party by reminding Americans of the destructive beliefs of liberal leaders in that party. Writes Frist: "Yesterday afternoon, Senator Kerry got up in front of the cameras and angrily made "crystal clear, as crystal clear as I know, I apologize to no one for my criticism of the President." Of course, no one ever asked him to apologize to President...

UPCOMING GUESTS October 23 Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist will be with us as he does a swing through the New England states. Sen. Frist is in town with his wife Karyn Frist who has authored a new book entitled Love You, Daddy Boy: Daughters Honor the Fathers They Love. Max Robins no doubt due during 5 pm hour. Absolutely, Howie.

WASHINGTON (BP)--Before it wrapped up business in late September, Congress passed an important new law to make it easier to crack down on illegal Internet gambling. I believe that America needs this law because Internet gambling presents a serious and growing problem that existing laws don’t address. The new law passed because members of the pro-family movement -- including a great many Southern Baptists -- brought the issue to the attention of both Democrats and Republicans. Internet gambling has grown out of control. Although four major federal laws and hundreds of state policies already make it illegal to gamble on...

CHATTANOOGA — Some are questioning the timing of a U.S. Senate amendment that would name a new federal courthouse in Nashville in honor of retiring Majority Leader Bill Frist. "I have a general problem with naming a federal courthouse after a person who is at least considering running for president," Dick Williams, chairman of Common Cause of Tennessee, told the Chattanooga Times Free Press' Washington bureau. "I think it is best to wait until people have really retired." The amendment, which has passed the Senate Appropriations Committee, must be approved by the full Senate. It calls for the building to...

Democratic Sen. John Kerry ridiculed Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist for trying to clarify his comment on bringing "people who call themselves Taliban" into the Afghanistan government. "They're not clarifying. He did another Terri Schiavo diagnosis from a one-hour tape," Kerry, the party's 2004 presidential nominee, said Wednesday of the Tennessee Republican. On Monday, Frist said the war against Taliban guerrillas can never be won militarily and that he favored bringing "people who call themselves Taliban" into the government. The remarks drew immediate criticism from Democrats. They argued Frist was waving the white flag of surrender to the Taliban, who...

The AP intentionally misquotes the Senate Majority Leader, and the race is on. How many times can the media report before they have to run a small print correction? I freaking hate the media. They are in bed with the liberals, and lying is their game. How do you combat this crap?

<p>Bill Frist: "I’m currently overseas visiting our troops in Afghanistan, but I wanted to take a moment to address an Associated Press story titled, “Frist: Taliban Should Be in Afghan Gov’t.” The story badly distorts my remarks and takes them out of context.</p>

Preview and Analysis of the Weekend Talk Shows for 9/23 & 9/24/06The campaign to trash President Bush and beatify President Clinton gets into high gear this week.  Perhaps now we know why the Clintonistas were so frantic to kill or discredit The Path To 9/11, because it had the possibility of preempting their re-re-re-re-launch of the "Clinton Legacy" (Take 843).  This is a contest between the Bush and Clinton world views.  Bush views the world in terms of western civilization representing humanity's progress up from barbarism.  Clinton views the world in terms of America's sins and how we must be...

Warning: strong language, applied humorously. See for example this thread first. Does Frist heed Tancredo or Pence? They are strong on the border, and hence He is showing some balls To vote on the wall At least he's not riding the fence!

Outside the Beltway, way out there in flyover land on the prairies of North Dakota, not all Republicans are lining up to support U.S. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist's call to ban Internet gambling. In fact, North Dakota State Rep. Jim Kasper says, "My fellow Republicans just don't get it" when it comes to Internet gambling. In July, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006, which updates the 1961 Wire Act banning sports wagering over the telephone to include all forms of online gambling. Frist (R-Tenn.) wants the Senate to approve the same...

From Bill Frist's blog: With all the information available about all the hateful efforts of the terrorists to strike America since the late 1980s -- easily available by one click on the Internet -- let's simmer down on the censorship calls and honor the memory of 9/11 by letting people see ABC's The Path to 9/11 and draw their own conclusions about the Islamofascist war against America. Exactly. Unfortunately, from what I know of liberals, they usually aren't too keen about Americans making up their own minds about things. Anyway, as Allah notes: ...the New York Times has seen it...

Tonight I’m proud to report that the Senate unanimously passed S. 2590, the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006. The passage of this legislation is a triumph for transparency in government, for fiscal discipline, and for the bipartisan citizen journalism of the blogosphere. Without the efforts of ordinary Americans empowered by the Internet, including many hardworking members of the iFrist Volunteers, this legislation might easily have been successfully obstructed. Instead, the unprecedented synergy between online grassroots activists and Senate leadership provides a new model for participatory democracy in action. I look forward to reconciling S. 2590 with its...

I spent part of the day today with Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist. He is, of course, a very impressive guy: a physician, a heart and lung transplant surgeon, an upstart politician, a hands-on doctor in places like Sudan and New Orleans, and one of the most powerful people in our government. Despite those obvious accomplishments and Frist's skills as a legislator, I've always felt that he lacks the executive persona necessary to be a strong Presidential candidate. Maybe. But I was impressed by the close-up contact I had today. Frist is deadly serious about the war on terror, the...

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist acknowledged Tuesday that he may not have met all the requirements needed to keep his medical license active — even though he gave paperwork to Tennessee officials indicating that he had. ADVERTISEMENT The state of Tennessee requires its licensed physicians to complete 40 hours of continuing medical education every two years. Frist, a heart-lung surgeon who is considering a 2008 presidential run, submitted a license renewal with the Tennessee Health Department stating he has fulfilled that requirement. Responding Tuesday to repeated requests from The Associated Press, a Frist spokesman said the Republican senator may not...

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., seemed to enjoy usurping courtesies by stepping forward to introduce Sen. Conrad Burns, R-Mont., at a press conference Monday. "I'm the leader," Frist said to Burns as Burns was about to introduce the GOP's point man in the Senate. Frist's leadership skills will be tested during September as he has an ambitious agenda for legislation before Congress goes home at the beginning of October to campaign for the midterm elections Nov. 7. Frist said he hopes to get through conference committees and on to President Bush bills dealing with port security, the congressional response...

The results of the latest GOP Bloggers straw poll are in. The poll was posted on the Red State homepage over the weekend, and first-choice results are as follows (full results with RS results in parentheses). Giuliani 24.6% (22.0%) Gingrich 21.1% (19.5%) Romney 12.8% (15.8%) Allen 11.5% (11.3%) Tancredo 6.7% (4.5%) McCain 6.4% (6.7%) Hagel 2.8% (3.3%) Brownback 2.5% (3.2%) Huckabee 1.5% (1.8%) Frist 1.1% (0.9%) Pataki 0.3% (0.3%)Read on... The Macaca incident has clearly devastated Allen’s numbers in the blogosphere, his stronghold. He used to have sky-high favorability, largely because he hadn’t done anything to offend anyone. He also...

- Adults in the United States place three Republican politicians as their top choices for the next presidential nomination, according to a poll by the Pew Research Center for the People and Press. 26 per cent of respondents would vote like Arizona senator John McCain to be the next presidential candidate.Former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani is a close second with 24 per cent, followed by current state secretary Condoleezza Rice with 18 per cent. Support is lower for former House of Representatives speaker Newt Gingrich, Virginia senator George Allen, Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, Tennessee senator Bill Frist, and...

Former Chattanooga Mayor Bob Corker is headed for a U.S. Senate showdown with Democrat Harold Ford Jr. in November after sweeping to the Republican nomination on Thursday night. Corker celebrated the win for the seat now held by Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist at the Sheraton Read House in Chattanooga. He had fought a bloody primary against former Congressmen Ed Bryant and Van Hilleary, who made concession speeches. In Hamilton County, Corker piled up 20,555 votes to 5,863 for Bryant and 3,919 for Hilleary. The Nashville Tennessean, with 1,762 of 2,432 precincts statewide reporting, had Corker at 175,092, Bryant at...

CEDAR FALLS, Iowa - Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist says he is leaving Iowa with a renewed focus on addressing high gas prices and affordable healthcare. The Tennessee Republican is considering a run for president in 2008. He said those were the issues that came up most frequently during his two-day swing through the state that is expected to launch the 2008 presidential nomination process. Frist's weekend trip to Iowa was his second in 2006. The visit included a run in a road race in Davenport yesterday and fundraisers for local candidates. Today he joined his Senate colleague, Iowa Republican...

Finally some reports are coming out regarding the NSA leak investigation and their prime target for the leaks: Capitol Hill. Jay Rockefeller, who was interviewed for the NY Times story which exposed our efforts to identify terrorists here in the US ready to attack us, is probably on the interview list. From the sounds of the reporting it does not appear to be a pleasant exercise for these all powerful men and women in Congress: There are also indications from at least one Senator, Ted Stevens (R-Alaska), that the FBI is asking Members about comments of theirs that appeared in...

Excerpt - SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Hospital operator HCA Inc. is in advanced talks to sell itself to an investor group in a transaction that would rank among the largest buyouts ever, according to a media report Sunday. The proposed deal, valued at $21 billion, not including the value of HCA's debt, could be announced as early as Monday, The Wall Street Journal reported in its online edition citing unnamed people familiar with the talks. See Wall Street Journal story (subscription required). Factoring in HCA's debt load of $10.6 billion, the deal would narrowly top the record-setting leveraged buyout of...

·11250 Waples Mill Road ·   Fairfax, Virginia 22030    ·800-392-8683 Stopping Gun ConfiscationThe Second Amendment unquestionably protects the right of individual Americans to own firearms. Thankfully, most gun-owners are never forced to defend themselves, their families, their homes. But during an emergency or disaster, when police protection breaks down like it did in the chaos in New Orleans that followed Hurricane Katrina, lawfully owned firearms may be the only effective means of protection. In the days following Katrina, when police and other first responders where overwhelmed and overstretched ... when the failure of telephone and other communication systems prevented so many from...

In a letter to the president, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN) urged Bush on Friday to intensify efforts to put interceptor missiles at a Europe site. ...

In a letter to the president, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN) urged Bush on Friday to intensify efforts to put interceptor missiles at a Europe site..

Inside the mind of Newt Gingrich: If I can help shape the agenda for both parties in 2006, I can win the presidency in 2008. I'm looking now at the recent record, starting with two hot issues: health care and immigration. On health care, the June 12 Washington Post ran a front-page story, "States' Changes Reshape Medicaid/New Restrictions Aim to Save Money"; the piece gave me, and my group, The Center for Health Transformation, credit for instigating the shift toward prevention and personal responsibility among Medicaid recipients. Outcomes are improved, and money is saved — it's a win-win for governors...

The immigration bill I voted for in the Senate started the United States down the road to a much better immigration system. But it's not finished. In its broad outlines, I support the comprehensive approach that the Senate bill takes. History has taught us that immigration reform measures cannot work in isolation. Simply strengthening physical border security or beginning a guest worker program will not fix the deep, underlying problems in America's immigration system. Any bill Congress sends to the president must enhance border security, create an operational temporary worker program, provide for work-site enforcement, and address the status of...

The Senate Judiciary Committee is quietly maneuvering to act on two of President Bush's appellate court nominees this summer, while a third nominee awaiting action on the Senate floor is slowly moving closer to a vote, Republican aides told HUMAN EVENTS today. A GOP aide said the Judiciary Committee is moving toward a vote on William Haynes' confirmation to the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in July. But before the committee brings Haynes up for a vote, Chairman Arlen Specter (R.-Pa.) is likely hold a second hearing, at which time Haynes would be given the opportunity to defend himself...

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist declared Tuesday that "surrendering is not a solution" in Iraq as Democrats embraced a proposal to start U.S. troop withdrawals this year and the GOP-controlled Senate opened debate on it. "We cannot retreat. We cannot surrender. We cannot go wobbly. The price is far too high," Frist, R-Tenn, said on the Senate floor, suggesting that Democrats want to do just that. Answering, Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, the second-ranking Democrat in the Senate, said: "We have to serve notice on the Iraqis that their future has to be in their own hands." Fierce election-year debate...

WASHINGTON - Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, under federal investigation for possible insider trading, will have a nice nest egg to fall back on when he retires from Congress in January, recording income last year of more than $5 million from his largest blind trust. Frist, R-Tenn., is hardly the richest member of the millionaires' club of Congress, but he and numerous other lawmakers whose financial dealings have been questioned were under scrutiny as House and Senate lawmakers disclosed their finances Wednesday. Rep. Alan Mollohan (news, bio, voting record), D-W.Va., steered millions in federal money to nonprofit groups in his...

Senator Robert Byrd, 88, one of Congress's most eloquent and outspoken critics of the US military presence in Iraq, became the US Senate's longest-serving member. The frail octogenarian who hobbles through the corridors of the Senate with the aid of a cane in each hand was first elected to the legislature's upper chamber in 1958. Known for his florid oratory, in recent years he has given numerous speeches from the Senate floor against the upward spiraling cost of rebuilding Iraq and the US motives for invading that country. He has represented the eastern coal-mining state of West Virginia the Senate...

Frist's Cat Problem Tennessean columnist Gail Kerr notes that Sen. Bill Frist (R-TN) "fessed up in his 1989 book, Transplant, to adopting cats from shelters when he was in medical school, treating them like pets for a while, and then using them in his research experiments." The subject also came up in the 1994 Senate GOP primary. "It was a short-lived local story that briefly flared in the national press. Yes, what Frist did was odd and rather icky, but he also saved a lot of lives as a heart surgeon. The kitty killer charges were widely dismissed, and Frist...

America's motto is "E pluribus unum," Latin for "Out of many, one." Some U.S. senators seem to be reading it backward. This week the Senate will consider legislation that would create an independent, race-based government for Native Hawaiians. If the bill becomes law, it would create a racial spoils system that would hand special privileges to up to one-fifth of the state's population--including many with only a trace of Hawaiian blood. It could inspire mainland groups such as Hispanic separatists to seek similar spoils, should they ever gain enough political leverage.

The talk of a Republican apocalypse this fall is likely premature, but very well earned. A White House that can't seem to communicate its way out of a paper bag surely can't lead. A Senate which forgets it was elected to cut spending, reduce waste and change Washington should expect to be sent home. This is just reality. But there's more to this story than meets most eyes. There's also a real chance for redemption. Republicans in 2004 won an historic victory, on the wave of an overwhelming coalition of fiscal, defense and social conservatives representing a large majority of...

Friday, May 12, I with about a dozen others in the Minuteman Project Caravan to Washington D.C. visited the offices of Senators offices on both sides of the 'Amnesty' issue. We first stopped by the office of Senator Jeff Sessions and expressed our GREAT APPRECIATION for his heroic fight against the Leftists and the compromised 'Conservatives' in the Senate. His staff was very pleased to host our group. Then, we went to some that were not exactly heroes, at least not lately. As a group or individually, I also visited the offices of Frist, Feinstein, Brownback and a number of...