Chris Kromm on Free Speech Radio News

Free Speech Radio News is running a piece on failing Wachovia bank's $8 million loan to the National Republican Congressional Committee. You can listen to the news segment here.

One note: The story text includes a slight error, saying that Wachovia "denied nearly 1,000 colleges loans." Actually, Wachovia froze short-term assets of colleges who invest through the Commonfund. As The Chronicle of Higher Education reported:

Wachovia bank has frozen the accounts of nearly 1,000 colleges, leaving institutions unable to access billions of dollars they depend on for salaries, campus construction, and debt payments.

As reported later, this was directly related to the impending buyout of Wachovia by Citigroup:

The freeze, announced on Monday, stems from the pending purchase of Wachovia by Citigroup. The move has left 900 institutions unable to get access to billions of dollars they depend on for salaries, campus construction, and debt payments.

The point isn't that money given to the NRCC traded off directly with money for colleges -- Wachovia is a complex financial institution with many different divisions handling money in different ways.

But it helps fill out the picture that Wachovia, as a corporation, has been in a very fragile position for months, causing it to drastically tighten access to credit and capital for thousands of customers.

The NRCC, despite being wracked by financial scandals this year, somehow did not suffer the same fate when they asked for an $8 million loan this month.