This is a really good read. This is a must read! Almost like a thriller novel.
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/26793903/the_big_takeover/5In 1997 and 1998, the years leading up to the passage of Phil Gramm's fateful act that gutted Glass-Steagall, the banking, brokerage and insurance industries spent $350 million on political contributions and lobbying. Gramm alone — then the chairman of the Senate Banking Committee — collected $2.6 million in only five years. The law passed 90-8 in the Senate, with the support of 38 Democrats, including some names that might surprise you: Joe Biden, John Kerry, Tom Daschle, Dick Durbin, even John Edwards.
The situation worsened in 2004, in an extraordinary move toward deregulation that never even got to a vote. At the time, the European Union was threatening to more strictly regulate the foreign operations of America's big investment banks if the U.S. didn't strengthen its own oversight. So the top five investment banks got together on April 28th of that year and — with the helpful assistance of then-Goldman Sachs chief and future Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson — made a pitch to George Bush's SEC chief at the time, William Donaldson, himself a former investment banker. The banks generously volunteered to submit to new rules restricting them from engaging in excessively risky activity. In exchange, they asked to be released from any lending restrictions. The discussion about the new rules lasted just 55 minutes, and there was not a single representative of a major media outlet there to record the fateful decision.
I did a little research on the vote and look who voted against this 1999 bill. Richard Shelby. The lone Republican.
Notice that Christopher Dodd voted for it. Interesting that McCain did not vote and Feingold voted Nay.
Vote
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State
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Representative
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Alabama
Yea AL Sessions, Jefferson [R]
Nay AL Shelby, Richard [R]Alaska
Yea AK Murkowski, Frank [R]
Yea AK Stevens, Ted [R]
Arizona
Yea AZ Kyl, Jon [?]
Not Voting AZ McCain, John [R]Arkansas
Yea AR Hutchinson, Tim [R]
Yea AR Lincoln, Blanche [D]
California
Yea CA Feinstein, Dianne [?]
Nay CA Boxer, Barbara [D]
Colorado
Yea CO Allard, Wayne [R]
Yea CO Campbell, Ben [R]
Connecticut
Yea CT Dodd, Christopher [D]
Yea CT Lieberman, Joseph [D]
Delaware
Yea DE Biden, Joseph [D]
Yea DE Roth, William [?]
Florida
Yea FL Graham, Bob [D]
Yea FL Mack, Connie [?]
Georgia
Yea GA Cleland, J. [D]
Yea GA Coverdell, Paul [?]
Hawaii
Yea HI Akaka, Daniel [?]
Yea HI Inouye, Daniel [D]
Idaho
Yea ID Craig, Larry [R]
Yea ID Crapo, Michael [R]
Illinois
Yea IL Durbin, Richard [D]
Present IL Fitzgerald, Peter [R]
Indiana
Yea IN Bayh, Evan [D]
Yea IN Lugar, Richard [?]
Iowa
Yea IA Grassley, Charles [R]
Nay IA Harkin, Thomas [D]
Kansas
Yea KS Brownback, Samuel [R]
Yea KS Roberts, Pat [R]
Kentucky
Yea KY Bunning, Jim [R]
Yea KY McConnell, Mitch [R]
Louisiana
Yea LA Breaux, John [D]
Yea LA Landrieu, Mary [D]
Maine
Yea ME Collins, Susan [R]
Yea ME Snowe, Olympia [?]
Maryland
Yea MD Sarbanes, Paul [?]
Nay MD Mikulski, Barbara [D]
Massachusetts
Yea MA Kennedy, Edward [?]Yea MA Kerry, John [D]
Michigan
Yea MI Abraham, Spencer [?]
Yea MI Levin, Carl [D]
Minnesota
Yea MN Grams, Rod [?]
Nay MN Wellstone, Paul [D]
Mississippi
Yea MS Cochran, Thad [R]
Yea MS Lott, Trent [?]
Missouri
Yea MO Ashcroft, John [?]
Yea MO Bond, Christopher [R]
Montana
Yea MT Baucus, Max [D]
Yea MT Burns, Conrad [?]
Nebraska
Yea NE Hagel, Charles [R]
Yea NE Kerrey, J. [?]
Nevada
Yea NV Reid, Harry [D]
Nay NV Bryan, Richard [?]
New Hampshire
Yea NH Gregg, Judd [R]
Yea NH Smith, Bob [R]
New Jersey
Yea NJ Lautenberg, Frank [?]
Yea NJ Torricelli, Robert [D]
New Mexico
Yea NM Bingaman, Jeff [?]
Yea NM Domenici, Pete [R]
New York
Yea NY Moynihan, Daniel [?]
Yea NY Schumer, Charles [D]North Carolina
Yea NC Edwards, John [D]
Yea NC Helms, Jesse [R]
North Dakota
Yea ND Conrad, Kent [?]
Nay ND Dorgan, Byron [D]
Ohio
Yea OH DeWine, Michael [?]
Yea OH Voinovich, George [R]
Oklahoma
Yea OK Inhofe, James [R]
Yea OK Nickles, Don [R]
Oregon
Yea OR Smith, Gordon [R]
Yea OR Wyden, Ron [D]
Pennsylvania
Yea PA Santorum, Richard [?]
Yea PA Specter, Arlen [R]
Rhode Island
Yea RI Chafee, Lincoln [?]
Yea RI Reed, John [D]
South Carolina
Yea SC Hollings, Ernest [D]
Yea SC Thurmond, J. [R]
South Dakota
Yea SD Daschle, Thomas [D]
Yea SD Johnson, Tim [D]
Tennessee
Yea TN Frist, William [?]
Yea TN Thompson, Fred [R]
Texas
Yea TX Gramm, Phil [R]
Yea TX Hutchison, Kay [?]
Utah
Yea UT Bennett, Robert [R]
Yea UT Hatch, Orrin [?]
Vermont
Yea VT Jeffords, James [?]
Yea VT Leahy, Patrick [D]
Virginia
Yea VA Robb, Charles [?]
Yea VA Warner, John [R]
Washington
Yea WA Gorton, T. [?]
Yea WA Murray, Patty [D]
West Virginia
Yea WV Byrd, Robert [?]
Yea WV Rockefeller, John [D]
Wisconsin
Yea WI Kohl, Herbert [?]
Nay WI Feingold, Russell [D]Wyoming
Yea WY Enzi, Michael [R]
Yea WY Thomas, Craig [?]
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