The CRA add-on is true, but it doesn't appear to have been at the insistence of President Clinton.
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Just to keep your revisionist history under control....
"The bill was killed in 1998 because Senator Phil Gramm wanted the bill to expand the number of banks which no longer would be covered by the CRA. He also demanded full disclosure of any financial deals which community groups had with banks, accusing such groups of "extortion." In 1999 Senators Christopher Dodd and Charles E. Schumer broke another deadlock by forcing a compromise between Gramm and the Clinton administration which wanted to prevent banks from expanding into insurance or securities unless they were compliant with the CRA. In the final compromise, the CRA would cover bank expansions into new lines of business, community groups would have to disclose certain kinds of financial deals with banks, and smaller banks would be reviewed less frequently for CRA compliance.[31][32][33] On signing the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, President Clinton said that it, "establishes the principles that, as we expand the powers of banks, we will expand the reach of the [Community Reinvestment] Act".[34]"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Community_Reinvestment_Act
"So we know that the topic of that late night phone call between Bill Clinton and Sandy Weill, the man whose career began in the subprime mortgage business, was the Community Reinvestment Act. We know that Phil Gramm, who was the one most strongly pushing for gutting CRA (Leach actually supported it) threatened to torpedo the legislation if the White House did not reach an agreement."
http://thestrangedeathofliberalameri...ve-report.html
There is PLENTY.....Actually, so much I wont bore you with it but it did happen and President Clinton did in fact only sign it with the amendment !!
I am only bringing this up to inusure that your attempt to lay this at the feet of one man with no blame to be spread does not go unoticed.
This is NOT in any way a defense of Gramm or any of them. There is plenty to go around on both sides of the aisle. BUT had the amendment not been pushed, who knows how the housing market may have faired since the toxic loans may not be around to deal with and what folks are calling the basis of the financial headaches would not exist...NOT to say it wouldnt have happened anyway but lets keep the facts straight !!!!