Bank of America’s Countrywide loans were ‘in the ditch,’ says U.S.Bank of America Corp.’s Countrywide unit defrauded Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac by selling them thousands of loans known to be defective, an attorney for the U.S. said in closing arguments in a lawsuit against the lender. The U.S. last year joined a whistle-blower action against Bank of America filed by former Countrywide executive Edward O’Donnell.

Who Buys the Spies? The Hidden Corporate Cash Behind America’s Out-of-Control National Surveillance StateEditor’s note: This is the first in a new series from AlterNet’s New Economic Dialogue Project, edited by Lynn Parramore. Long before President Obama kicked off his 2008 campaign, many Americans took it for granted that George W. Bush’s vast, sprawling national security apparatus needed to be reined in.