"We are trying on every front to increase the role of government in the regulatory area."

Simple! More government control.

So we should just allow businesses to operate with no regulations?

really? Did the government bundle and sell groups of bad mortgages to unknowing investors while laughing all the way to the bank?

Frank, Dodd& Co. under Clinton forced banks to make high risk loans creating the enviroment for the collapse. you have only a bunch of liberal democrats to thank. Bush, Greenspan & McCain screamed for reforms and warned about Freddie & Fannie but now you want to blame republicans for this. all the while the pompous criminals are in charge of the reform. this would be wildly funny if it weren't so fatal.

hahaha. You're funny RW. Try reading a little recent history. Bush did NOTHING about it even when he had a republican congress. Wanna try again?

But I do agree with you that the root of the problem was loosening the laws too much so that people who could not afford loans got them. That was the start. But it is the ugly greedy head of capitalism that got out of control. Not poor people.

read history you idiot. bush and greenspan DID try. your little butt buddies frankendodd stood in the way.

Right. A republican [resident and a republican congress and you couldn't get it done. Yea, that's leadership.

Pure capitalism says that if those guys are crooks, then we will stop buying their products and they'll have to change their ways. But the problem is that pure capitalism is only a theory.

Capitalism has worked for over 200 years in the USA. Why mess with something that has worked well that long?

"The United States of America—five percent of the world’s population—leads the world economically, militarily, scientifically, and culturally—and by a spectacular margin. Any one of these achievements, taken alone, would be cause for enormous pride. To dominate as we do in all four arenas has no historical precedent. That we have achieved so much in so many areas is due—due entirely—to the structure of our society as outlined in the Constitution of the United States.” ~~ Bill Whittle

Worked is a relative term. Did pure capitalism work properly int he mortgage banking industry? How about during the dot-com era? No-one is suggesting abolishing capitalism. But it does need regulation to prevent the crooked ones from succeeding. Capitalism without some regulation is an open license to steal for many. The debate is over how much regulation.