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On October 1, the news blog of The Chronicle of Higher Education ran this item:

Moody’s Investors Service said today that it was reviewing the effect of Wachovia’s decision to freeze the short-term accounts of nearly 1,000 colleges who invest through the Commonfund.

The assessment, which will initially focus on 20 institutions that use the money as collateral for debt, could affect some colleges’ credit ratings. …

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.

A spokeswoman for Wachovia said today that the bank had restricted withdrawals to ensure an orderly liquidation of the fund, which is dissolving on December 31. Without the freeze, some colleges might have withdrawn all of their money at once, leaving the bank without enough cash to cover the remaining investors. …

One week later, Chris Bowers of OpenLeft noticed:

In a move that should turn into an attack ad all on its own, the NRCC somehow secured an $8 million loan from Wachovia today (from subscription only Roll Call):

The National Republican Congressional Committee, trailing its Democratic counterpart considerably in cash on hand, has secured an $8 million loan to spend on House races during the last few weeks of the campaign, according to sources.

The NRCC reported $14.4 million in cash on hand as of Aug. 31, compared to $54 million in the bank for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. As it did last cycle, the NRCC is procuring its loan from Wachovia Bank, sources confirmed.

“Now, I guess this is legal because the loan will be paid with hard money donations later on,” Bowers wrote. “However, in the short term, this is effectively an $8 million donation to the NRCC from Wachovia at a time when Wachovia is supposedly in dire straits, about to be bought out by other banks, and will receive money from the government via the bailout. Does anyone see the attack ad in this move?”

Well yes, actually, I see both an attack ad and maybe a Congressional investigation in due course too. But the more immediate question is: What’s happening to Wachovia’s less-favored customers — the 900 colleges with frozen accounts, and all their constituents — in the meantime?

The Institute of Southern Studies’ Chris Kromm has more here (h/t duckweedpond). I’d take the trouble to call this development “incredible” — but when it comes to Republicans and their favorite banks, that goes without saying.