McCain Response to Rep. Leach’s Obama Endorsement

As Obama receives an endorsement today from former Congressman Jim Leach, you might want to ask about Obama’s attacks calling Leach’s deregulation bill (Gramm-Leach-Bliley) a lobbyist-driven deal that led to the subprime lending crisis…

Leach Co-Authored The Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act Which Obama Blames For The Subprime Lending Crisis:

Leach Was The Co-Author Of The Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, Which Repealed The Glass-Steagall Act And Allowed Competition Between Commercial And Investment Banks And Insurance Companies. (S. 900, Signed 11/12/99)

Obama Has Attacked The Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act As A Lobbyist-Driven Deregulation That Led To The Subprime Lending Crisis. Obama: “By the time the Glass-Steagall Act was repealed in 1999, the $300 million lobbying effort that drove deregulation was more about facilitating mergers than creating an efficient regulatory framework. … The regulatory environment failed to keep pace. When subprime mortgage lending took a reckless and unsustainable turn, a patchwork of regulators were unable or unwilling to protect the American people.” (Cheyenne Hopkins, “Regulatory Revamp Newest Plank In Obama's Platform,” American Banker, 3/28/08)