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I’ve been looking around for info on the Bush & McCain-sponsored “deregulation” on which Obama and Biden have been blaming this economic crisis.

So far I haven’t found anything. (There’s this Clinton-era law that seems to have kick-started this meme, but even Clinton said this deregulation has eased the crisis, not inflamed it.)

Googling for Bush deregulation legislation only comes up with a lot of repeats of that talking point with no supporting details and some deregulation Bush implemented as Governor of Texas.

But I did also find this Obama supporting editorial crying foul on this “Deregulation Bad” theme. And this article explaining how new regulation helped create the mess:

Sarbanes-Oxkley included a new accounting rule, called “Mark to Market,” which is now widely viewed as having contributed to the subprime mortgage crisis. “Mark to Market” is being suspended as part of the legislation authorizing the $700 billion Wall Street bailout.

Obama has it completely backwards on deregulation and the economic crisis. Too much wrong-headed regulatory policy designed to encourage sub-prime lending, including the Community Reinvestment Act as written by Democrats and rewritten by the Clinton administration, combined with the Democrats’ rejection of proposals from the Bush administration and from John McCain to reform and reign in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, are at the root of the current crisis.

Tags:   deregulation · McCain · ObamaNo Comments