ML-Implode News - Washington Mutual spent $980,000 lobbying

Besides lawmakers, Washington Mutual lobbied agencies including the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., the Federal Reserve, the Office of Thrift Supervision, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Treasury Department.

Not too surprising. Looks like the lobbying has been pretty effective so far -- the only concession borrowers have really won is write-offs for short sales, but that doesn't really cost banks anything. Notably, judges still cannot modify mortgage loan balances in bankruptcy.

Relevant:

Washington Mutual spent $980,000 lobbying