I think the main lesson from this debacle is that even when people try to fix problems in Washington, and try hard, NOTHING happens until the doo-doo hits the fan.
Then the gubmint gets involved and makes things worse.
The financial crisis is all due to sub prime loans. Follow the history:
The excesses at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac can be traced back to the Congress during the Clinton administration. They gave birth to the sub prime loan idea. That is the baby that should have been aborted. Making loans to people that can’t afford the house is how we got in this mess.
Congress encouraged sub prime loans while Mozilla at Countrywide had a reverse redline on making home loans in bad neighborhoods. Barack’s buttboy, Jim Johnson, made $25 million a year at Fannie Mae giving money to politicians. Although only being in the Senate a short time, Barack was right at the top of the money trough.