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Date published: 10/1/2008
Repeal of Glass-Steagall Act is what fueled the crisis
This current financial meltdown is just a repeat of some of the causes of the crash of 1929 that led to the Great Depression. One of the main reasons for the crash was that banks were involved in trading securities (stocks) as well as keeping people's hard-earned savings. Once the market crashed, In 1933, Sen. Carter Glass and Rep. Henry Steagall got Congress and FDR to pass the Glass-Steagall Act, which separated investment institutions from commercial (savings and loan, mortgage) banks. The Act worked great until 1998, when Travelers Insurance wanted to merge with Citibank. After Citi and its allies spent $200 million in lobbying Congress and raising Guess who co-sponsored the repeal--Phil Gramm, John McCain's former campaign economic advisor. And the Treasury Secretary who heavily influenced President Clinton to sign the repeal was Robert Rubin, who later got a job with Citicorp. Because of the investment-commercial bank mergers, these newly directed institutions began, among other crazy things, aggressively pushing subprime mortgages because these high-yielding instruments became "investments" instead of old-fashioned, stable, traditional mortgages. This, in turn, affected people's hard-earned savings in these investment banks because of all the mortgage defaults. You'll never hear any presidential candidate say they want to re-enact the Glass-Steagall Act because Until the Glass-Steagall Act is reinstated, this mess will continue to cost taxpayers billions, with no end in sight. Gary Olsen Fredericksburg
Mistakes were made. A lot of lessons have been learned. I
fully expect our Government and our Citizens to re-engage
and work diligently on course correction. The time has come
to roll up our sleeves and regain America's standing as the
beacon of hope to the tired, the poor, the huddled masses
yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of teeming
shores. Send these, the tempest-tossed to what is and will
always be the Golden land of opportunity.
When Bush warned us about Fannie and Freddie, it was democratic congress mocking Bush and saying that they are doing great job. Republicans were all for regulating Fannie in this case. When McCain brought the bill to regulate Fannie and Freddie, it was Demoratic Congress that blocked this bill. Why? Because Democrats received the largest lobbying $ from Fannie and Freddie. Obama was ranked 2nd! Who's to blame? Isn't it obvious? Now you know. Vote out Democratic Congress who took us into this mess!
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