Credit Default Swaps became exempt from regulation with the Commodity Futures Modernization Act of 2000, signed into law by President Clinton in December 2000. The subprime loans were also the result of legislation signed into law by President Clinton late into his second term, which allowed investment banks (Wall Street) into the mortgage loan arena that only commercial banks played in prior to that. The investment banks were the first ones to collapse. Add Democratic playtoys Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to the mix to bundle and sell half the loans in the country, and we created a market where nobody was responsible for their own actions, and kaboom, a financial crisis the second the housing market turned downward.

So much for blaming it on Bush. I wonder why Obama never points this stuff out when he talks about the failed policies of the past. Never mind, I already know why.

And Rev, I've never heard one conservative in my entire life advocate an "unfettered" free market.

Nice try, though.

http://thisamericanlife.org/Radio_Episode.aspx?sched=1263

Act One. The Day the Market Died.

Alex Blumberg and Adam Davidson recount the 36-hour period, two weeks ago, when the credit markets froze. Plus, what it’s like now for businesses to get short-term loans, and how the hardship is spreading to every sector of the economy. (16 minutes)

Act Two. Out of the Hedges and Into the Woods.

One more confusing financial product that’s bringing down the global economy. And one of way to think about this product is this: If bad mortgages got the financial system sick, this next thing you’re about to hear about, helped spread the sickness into an epidemic. These are "credit default swaps." Alex explains. (19 minutes)

Act Three. Swap Cops.

Ira talks with Michael Greenberger, a former commodities regulator, who tells the story of when it was decided not to regulate credit default swaps. And how that decision was emblematic of the way we didn’t regulate a lot of the toxic financial products we’re hearing about now. (8 minutes)

Halifax has something going on there. I'll have to see more of his stuff before I sic 911 on him.

Have you been attending hip-hop poetry classes, again? Was Michael Steele in your class?