Sleuthing and prodding by Nebraska Sen. Charles Grassley -- one of the best legislators in Washington today -- has found that -- surprise! -- nonprofit hospitals across the country don't deliver that much care for the poor in return for their tax exemption. He also found that -- surprise! -- the hospitals use the money they aren't spending on the poor to pay big executive salaries and benefits. This is still developing, and you'll hear more about this out of Washington. Here are highlights of a survey of 65 nonprofit hospital systems that the Government Accountability Office performed for Grassley. The hospitals weren't identified.

-- 15 of the systems did not require executive compensation consultants to be free of conflicts of interest.
-- 21 of the 55 systems paying for the CEO's car use had not performed an internal audit of the expense since 2004.
-- 26 of 45 hospital systems paying the CEO's country club dues had not performed an internal audit of the expense since 2004.
-- 13 of the systems paid travel expenses for the CEO's spouse.
-- 17 of the systems paid for the CEO's tax preparation.
-- 2 systems made loans to the CEO.
-- 28 systems pay for the CEO and other top executives to attend sports events.
-- 16 systems pay for the CEO and other top executives to attend the theater.