Tax Cuts Aid Senators

The Hill

Several senators — millionaires, many of them — have reported earning substantial dividend income in 2004, benefiting greatly from President Bush’s tax cuts in 2001 and 2003, according to financial disclosure reports made available yesterday.

Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) reported earning $1 million to $5 million in income from the W.H. Frist 2000 Qualified Blind Trust, which has a capital value of between $5 million and $25 million. Another of Frist’s trusts, the William H. Frist GST Exempt 2000 Qualified Blind Trust, was valued between $1 million to $5 million.

Frist, well-known as a former heart-transplant surgeon, reported holdings of less than $15,000 in Lifepoint Hospitals Inc. and Triad Hospitals Inc. The majority leader also reported buying less than $15,000 of stock in Krispy Kreme, the Southern doughnut chain. The stock yielded a small amount of dividend income. The figures were obtained from disclosure reports put up on the website of PoliticalMoneyLine.