tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2478322568715731860.post2133792558277716843..comments2010-04-01T15:12:58.217-04:00RobertMnoreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2478322568715731860.post-17557756976040548582010-04-01T15:12:58.207-04:002010-04-01T15:12:58.207-04:00Didn&#39;t Jamie say something like don&#39;t demonize us today?...why shouldn&#39;t we?<br /><br /><br />My new article, “Looting Main Street,” is out on newsstands in Rolling Stone. It’s about Jefferson County, Alabama, and how a group of Wall Street banks (in particular JP Morgan Chase) ran the Birmingham area into the ground with predatory interest rate swap deals.<br /><br /><br /><br />The really sordid part of the Jefferson County story is how the banks funneled millions of dollars to buddies of the County Commissioner, who in turn bribed the local pols to sign off on the crappy swap deals. In the case of former Commissioner Larry Langford, a local greaseball named Bill Blount who had been paid millions in “consulting” fees by the banks was literally following Langford around with a charge card, picking up the tab for things like watches and Zegna suits. We get a rare look into this process in JeffCo, where the SEC published transcripts of taped conversations involving JP Morgan bankers talking about how much money it would take to grease guys like Blount. “Just tell us how much,” we hear former JP Morgan executive Charles LeCroy saying.<br /><br />http://tinyurl.com/y9umqsjthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12191604348463740813noreply@blogger.com