http://www.rallycongress.com/americansentinel/1223/a-call-for-hearings-into-senator-barack-obamas-violation-of-the-logan-act/

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I think a more accurate question would be "who benefits from regulation?" REGULATION HAS A TRACK RECORD OF BENEFITTING EVERYONE EXCEPT THE MIDDLE CLASS TAXPAYER. Anyone, textbook liberal or textbook conservative should note that regulation (aka government interference with free markets) is what got us into this mess in the first place. You may remember two far off events like the dot com bubble and 9/11 which wreaked havoc on our stock market, consumer confidence, and liquidity in the banking system. Prior to these two events, we enjoyed a steady five or so year run of steady, if unremarkable growth in home values, low inflation, and manageable interest rates.

Wall Street and the Investment Banks (the same folks we just bailed out again) created the irrational exuberance of the dot com market, financed it, repackaged it, and sold shares of worthless companies to optimistic, trusting, and maybe a little greedy middle class folks like you and I. They profited not so much from the value or products of these companies, but rather from the marketing of worthless products (Think Snake Oil meets Wall Street). This was capitalism at its finest. Most of us would have appreciated a little regulation prior to taking 50% losses in our 401ks, but we did not get it. This too was a free market at work. When the dot com thing blew up and our elected officials thought it might look bad for their re-election attempts, the regulators stepped in and slapped the hands of a few really bad guys to save face AND then proceeded to push Greenspan and our monetary policy folks to open the money spigot to get big business, banks, and the investment houses making money again. This, again, was regulation.

Part 2
9/11 takes place just as this injection of capital and cheaper money/money policy is starting to lube up the economy. This catastrophe basically shuts down trading worldwide, kills confidence, and paralyzes markets. Again, we get some "regulation/government interference" by way of reducing short term rates for businesses, homeowners, and builders down to 4% interest. This was just to get things back on track and moving.

The financial cocktail of mega cheap money, loose lending requirement for that cheap money, folks avoiding stocks, and elected official's desire to do anything to keep the economy growing (even if it is not good for the long-term) created a real estate and housing boom that never should have happened.

Wall Street and Main Street enjoyed some really cool years where everyone felt rich in their home and their portfolio so who could really complain? We should have complained. We new better.

Government regulation/interference included:
1. Politicians pushing for higher percentages of home ownership (everyone votes for that)
2. Politicians pushing for lower lending standards for certain regions/demographics (even if you don't like it, you can't publicly complain)
3. Keeping rates way too low for way too long
4. Loosening liquidity requirements for big banks
5. Fannie and Freddie being a partner, investor, and underwriter to this madness
6. Allowing/endorsing ratings agencies to stuff junk loans into AAA portfolios

In the meantime, our friends in Wall Street created a new product to replace dot com IPOs...sub-prime and Alt A mortgages. They figured out that they could make a lot of money buying mortgages from lenders and brokers on main street, packaging them together, and then re-selling them in infinite ways to investors, other banks, bond houses, etc. After a year or two, they were all making so much money at this that they decided they should figure out a way to get more mortgages to package and sell. They came up with wild adjustables, reverse amortization, pay option arms, and every conceivable $0 down, bad credit, no job, no bank acccount, foreign citizen, maybe I don't even exist mortgage product ever imagined. These products were designed to create more mortgages for Wall Street to package and sell. The fact that they happened to stimulate the housing market and create a sense of wealth in all of us was just a nice by-product for our dearly elected.

Now, a few years later, the government regulators act shocked that this was happening. But rather than punish Wall Street, the Big Banks, and the government itself, it seems that our entire country screams that someone must help these poor big banks as they are the backbone of capitalism and the American way. Who better to help than the regulators?

The point is simple logic. If the government wouldn't have stepped in and tried to fix things in 2000-2001, we wouldn't be in nearly the mess we're in now that they need to come in and clean up. The fact that we taxpayers making $50-$100k on average will be bailing out corporate titans who make millions per year is just icing on the cake.

I may need someone to regulate my anger.

The Bush regime has turned us into a giant United State of Socialist Republic of America. (USSR-A)
I thought socialism and communism were all bad for us, now I know it is good for the fat cats on wall street, oil and defense industries. Where are those lying neocons that frightens our populace against socialism? I bet they are busy conjuring up fake evidence for the invasion of Iran. I hope they fund it from their Iraq war profits since our economy has gone belly up. Thanks to their ingenuity in lies. $15 Trillion in debts and counting. Bin Laden said he will bankrupt our economy, Bush has done it for him, he does not even need to show up.

The communists are coming, the communists are coming. They are here and they are Comrade Bush and Comrade Cheney. Comrade Paulson and Comrade Bernanke are even with them.