Bubba lobbied hard for that. It deregulated credit default swaps, mortgage derivatives. That and repeal of Glass Steagall, for which he also lobbied hard, pretty much crashed the economies of several countries.

Clinton now says he got "bad advice."

Rubin and Summers were responsible for forcing Brooksley Born out of the Clinton administration because as chair of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission she had the temerity to suggest regulating the mortgage-backed securities that eventually proved to be so toxic. Instead, Rubin and Summers pushed the Commodity Futures Modernization Act, which Clinton signed into law in his last month in office, categorically exempting those suspect derivatives from any government regulation.

By then, Rubin had moved on to a $15-million-a-year job at Citigroup, which became a prime exploiter of the subprime housing market. As a result of its massive involvement with toxic securities, Citigroup, with Rubin in a leading role until early 2009, had to be bailed out by the federal government with a $45 billion direct investment and a guaranteed Fed protection for $306 billion in potentially toxic assets.

Citigroup, a merger of the old Citibank and Travelers insurance company, was made legal only by the Financial Services Modernization Act, which Rubin backed while treasury secretary. Then, in one of the most egregious conflicts of interest in U.S. history, he went to work for the new bank, which took advantage of the changes in the law to buy up the infamous subprime lenders, beginning with Associates First Capital. The Economist magazine wrote of that purchase that “it extends Citi’s already huge credit card operation to a lucrative new niche (price insensitive, if default prone, borrowers)” and questioned whether investors would see Citi’s bold new venture “as something smart, such as ‘evolved credit extension,’ or something seamy such as loan-sharking.”



Click here to check out Robert Scheer’s new book, “The Great American Stickup: How Reagan Republicans and Clinton Democrats Enriched Wall Street While Mugging Main Street.”

http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/the_rubin_con_goes_on_20100810

I've lost track: has either of them taken responsibility for diddly?

I know he said his prison stuff was a mistake. However, he said it only recently--and after Republicans said it, so it was obvious it was intended to benefit Hillary in her 2016 Presidential campaign. Ditto for her relatively recent admission that voting for the Iraq War was a mistake. Did either of them even say they were sorry? Not that that a statement undoes the havoc their "mistakes" caused, but did they even get that far?

most recent employer not to hire them in 2009?

It seems the Clintons are always apologizing.

I'd rather elect a leader who is smart enough ahead of time.

GO BERNIE!

You realize that phrase set off alarms at the NSA Headquarters?

Keep 'em busy instead of leeching free porn from our citizens!

They set off a lot of things that had bad consequences.

to their parting gifts as ticking time-bombs. But since they have been out of office since 1996 the damage is clear.

Over Hillary. These are some of them.