Gary Olsen's Oct. 1 letter about the Glass-Steagall Act requires a response to set the record straight ["Repeal of Glass-Steagall Act is what fueled the crisis"].
Glass-Steagall is the latest Barack Obama campaign talking point to misdirect the blame for the current financial crisis toward Phil Gramm, a McCain campaign adviser. This is a red herring.
Repeal of Glass-Steagall wasn't a classic act of deregulation, as the Democrats like to describe it. It sailed through the Senate on a 90-8 vote, which included "yes" votes by such notable Democrats as John Kerry, Chris Dodd, John Edwards, and Joe Biden.
Bill Clinton, far from being "heavily influenced," as Mr. Olsen puts it, by then-Treasury Secretary Bob Rubin, said in a recent interview on this matter: "I have really thought about this a lot. I don't see that signing that bill had anything to do with the current crisis."
The current mess has nothing to do with Glass-Steagall and everything to do with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac promoting loans to unqualified buyers and repackaging them as securities that they then sold to investment banks.
When the Clinton and Bush administrations tried on multiple occasions to reform and more closely regulate Fannie and Freddie, they were blocked at every turn
According to the Center for Responsive Politics, the top five recipients of campaign contributions from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac employees and PACs are Democrats, and Barack Obama managed to rank third on
It's in Obama's best interest to direct accusing fingers elsewhere.
Eric Hennessey
Spotsylvania