Get the Facts: The Story of the Financial Crisis

These crises were caused by calculated deregulation and the gross negligence of the Bush administration and congressional conservatives.

We are in this mess today because of the deregulatory policies and negligent leadership of President George W. Bush, his financial regulatory officials, and congressional conservatives such as Phil Gramm.

The Bush solution: cut regulations

First, Bush and the conservative mantra of deregulation encouraged the explosion of risky new financial products, and blocked them from common-sense oversight and regulation.

Second, they turned a blind eye to dire warnings that risky lending practices were spiraling out of control.

Their failure to act allowed Wall Street CEOs to recklessly gamble with other people’s money.

Now, the bubble has popped and the markets have crashed, and conservatives are desperately casting about for someone else to blame for the consequences of their failed policies.

Their efforts to pass the buck are an insult to our intelligence. Conservatives policies dominated the past eight years while this crisis grew out of control. This is the legacy of their failed policies—it is time for them to own it.

Measures of Prosperity - Then and Now