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GOP sponsored the bill

Don Hood (May 28) states that the Financial Services Act of 1999, supported by Democrats and signed into law by President Bill Clinton, is widely viewed as causing the 2008 financial and economic collapse. What he fails to mention is the fact that the 1999 Financial Services Act was spearheaded by Phil Gramm, R-Texas; Jim Leach, R-Iowa, and Thomas J. Bliley Jr., R-Va.

Yes, President Bill Clinton signed it into law, but the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act was largely the work of special-interest groups who wanted to reverse the Glass-Steagall Act of 1933. The GOP-sponsored bill effectively removed the regulatory oversight by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission of banking, securities and insurance institutions. The end of the Glass-Steagall Act has been blamed by many as contributing to the 2008 debacle.

The Republicans play the political game of omitting details, or touting selectively edited news information, only if it serves their political agenda.

Joe Rodriguez Jr.

Mead

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