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Tell the AG: Investigate the swaps.

Sunday's New York Times ran an article blowing the lid off a Wall Street scheme called "interest rate swaps" that are sucking money from cities and states across the country. The swap deals were originally sold to communities as a way to shield against unpredictable interest rates. But, when the banks crashed the economy, the rules of the game changed.

Now, all these swap deals are doing is generating pure profit for the big banks - and it's being paid for with our tax dollars.

Help stop the swaps. Demand a public investigation into these shady deals using the form to the right.

These swaps deals amount to the biggest Wall Street bailout you've never heard of - around $28 billion nationwide. The city of Oakland, CA alone is paying $5.2 million annually for a swap deal with Goldman Sachs. That's enough to completely resolve the city's outstanding budget gap - and avoid cuts to critical services. Instead, it's being used to fill Goldman's profit pool, while city services go on the chopping block.

Taxpayers have already given enough to bailout Wall Street. But that hasn't stopped them from taking more. With communities feeling the squeeze in a tough economy, the last thing we can afford to do is send billions of our local tax dollars to Wall Street.

This week, taxpayers rallied against the big banks in Oakland, CA:


To the Office of the Attorney General:

This Sunday's New York Times ran an article ("The Swaps That Swallowed Your Town") that outlines a type of derivative called an "interest rate swap" that Wall Street Banks have been pushing on cities and states across the nation.

These swaps are costing communities millions of dollars every year and generating pure profit for the Wall Street banks. Nationwide, banks are raking in around $28 billion annually from these swap deals.

Last year, the U.S. Department of Justice launched formal inquiries - still underway - into these swap deals, to determine if the big banks have rigged the deals to force more money from state and local governments.

Tough economic times have already put the squeeze on our state and city budgets. Now more than ever, we need to account for every penny of our tax dollars that’s lining the pockets of Wall Street executives instead of funding services in our communities.

I am asking you to publicly investigate any interest rate swap deals Wall Street banks hold in our state. We need to know if our tax dollars are funding an improper deal with the big banks.
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