Another part to Fix the Mess
Some economists state that the 1999 legislation spearheaded by
Gramm and signed into law by President Clinton — the
"Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act" — was partly to blame for
the 2007 subprime mortgage crisis and 2008 global economic
crisis.[8][9] The Act is most widely known for repealing
portions of the Glass-Steagall Act, which had regulated the
financial services industry. Gramm responded to criticism of
the act by stating that he saw "no evidence
whatsoever" that the sub-prime mortgage crisis was caused
in any way "by allowing banks and securities companies
and insurance companies to compete against each
other."[10] The Act, it should be noted, passed the House
by an overwhelming majority and passed by unanimous consent in
the Senate, though it was introduced on the last day before
Christmas holiday and never debated by either congressional
body. [11]
The Washington Post in 2008 named Gramm one of seven "key
players" responsible for winning a 1998-1999 fight
against regulation of derivatives trading.[12] Gramm's support
was later critical in the passage of the Commodity Futures
Modernization Act of 2000, which kept derivatives
transactions, including those involving credit default swaps,
free of government regulation.[13]
2008 Nobel Laureate in Economics Paul Krugman, a supporter of
Barack Obama, described Gramm during the 2008 presidential
race as "the high priest of deregulation," and has
listed him as the number two person responsible for the
economic crisis of 2008 behind only Alan Greenspan.[14][15] On
October 14, 2008, CNN ranked Gramm number seven in its list of
the 10 individuals most responsible for the current economic
crisis.[16] In January 2009 Guardian City editor Julia Finch
identified him as one of twenty-five people who were at the
heart of the financial meltdown. [17] An Internet poll
currently ranks Gramm #1 among 25 people selected by Time as
candidates to blame for the economic crisis. [18]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phil_Gramm
The "Enron loophole"
The Commodity Futures Modernization Act of 2000 has received
criticism for the so-called "Enron loophole," 7
U.S.C. §2(h)(3) and (g), which exempts most over-the-counter
energy trades and trading on electronic energy commodity
markets. The "loophole" was drafted by lobbyists for
Enron working with senator Phil Gramm[3] seeking a deregulated
atmosphere for their new experiment, "Enron
On-line."[4]
Several Democratic legislators introduced legislation to close
the loophole from 2000-2006[5][6] but were unsuccessful.
In September 2007, Senator Carl Levin (D-MI) introduced Senate
Bill S.2058 specifically to close the "Enron
Loophole" [7] This bill was later attached to H.R. 6124,
the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008, aka "The
2008 Farm Bill". President Bush vetoed the bill, but was
overridden by both the House and Senate, and on June 18, 2008
the bill was enacted into law.[8]. One specific reason behind
its introduction was to address the record high oil prices of
the 2000s energy crisis.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commodity_Futures_Modernization_Act_of_2000
Lets see we have Rove, The brain, Then we have Bush the clown,
then comes Texas Law, Gramm, Gonzales and a host of others,
add enormous amounts of greed that equals more power, add
Cheney and Rice with the Oil Companies with a huge dash of
fear, some others cronies that kept the doors locked so the
evil doers had complete control.
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