UPDATED: Troubled WaMu’s Dallas connection

HINT: it's at the highest level.

Updated 01:52 p.m., September 26, 2008

by PegNews wire

In the latest example of our government's firm commitment to a free market economy, federal regulators have taken over Washington Mutual and more or less forced it to sell itself to J.P. Morgan Chase.

Here's the North Texas connection (I mean, aside from the fact that thousands of North Texans have home mortgages through WaMu): Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert sits on the company's board of directors. Along with several other North Texans

Which is really all there is to the above-linked story at nbc5i.com.

Fascinating, yes? (O.K., no.)

UPDATE: as a reader of both the DMN and Pegasus News points out (via email), there's more - oh, so MUCH more - to the Leppert/WaMu story, to wit:

* borrowing a turn from John McCain's "the fundamentals of our economy are strong" playbook, back on Sept. 10 Leppert stated (in regard to WaMu's prospects) that "...there's sufficient capital and good things ahead."

* Leppert owns (or has up 'til quite recently owned) somewhere around 24,000 shares of WaMu-related stocks - which have tanked badly over the last year.

* Leppert derived a low-six-figure income from his position on the WaMu board.

Judging by the comments to the DMN story, folks consider some or all of this to be outrageously underhanded. (What - didn't they understand they were electing a high-level business wheeler-dealer sort of chap into office? Guess not.)

posted by JM