Bachus Is Wall Street's Man in Jefferson County

In Homewood, Ala., retiree Lynn Arnold says the U.S. government should crack down on Wall Street after bond and derivative deals arranged by JPMorgan Chase (JPM) left Jefferson County in a fiscal mess. "There needs to be something to help so this doesn't happen again to another county or another city," says the former audiologist, whose sewer bill may increase 25 percent to help pay for the debacle. "A lot of people are suffering."

Arnold's congressman is seeking to delay rules meant to do just that. During the past two decades, Spencer Bachus has been the U.S. House of Representatives' third-biggest recipient of donations from financial companies, totaling some $7.1 million, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. JPMorgan—and its employees—constitute the congressman's single biggest contributor. On May 24 the House Financial Services Committee, which the Republican leads, voted along party lines to stall regulations for derivatives, including those aimed at keeping the rest of the nation from repeating Jefferson County's mistakes, until September 2012. Bachus's regulatory delay faces long odds of becoming law while Democrats control the Senate and the White House.