Reply #26: The damage was already done WELL before 2004.

[beachmom]

The destruction of our regulatory system was done largely in the '90s and early 2000's. The SEC upped the leverage in 2004 to 33 to 1 for banks, but frankly -- most of it happened under Bill Clinton's watch egged on by key Republicans in a GOP Congress with little to no protest from Democrats.

I didn't hear John Kerry argue that the commodities market needed to be regulated. I didn't hear him talk about Freddie/Fannie and the excesses made in those companies.

Edit: Thanks for the links. Again, watch those You Tube links I provide upthread (hat tip: Fabio) -- it wasn't just balloon payment sub prime mortgages or credit cards. It was an assumption by EVERYONE involved (mortgage lenders, home buyers, buyers of mortgages, and those who turned them into Collateralized Debt Obligations) that housing prices would continue to rise and no regulatory oversight to control the leveraging.

And please tell me what that housing trust bill you mention did. It is my understanding that at least the one that was passed and signed into law in the summer of '08 was an abysmal failure.

What about the credit default swaps? Where is Kerry's legislative proposals to regulate them? Or outlaw them?