Google REMIC. This was the last and worst of Reagan's "trickle down" bs. It has all but destroyed local banking. The "fractionalized" borrowing system the mega banks enjoy should be curtailed radically.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/30/business/30gret.html?_r=1&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

"You cannot make this stuff up."

Socialism’s State of the Union

Socialism - the abolishment of private property - sometimes advances at the point of a gun. At other times, it advances by co-opting the language of freedom.

In his State of the Union speech on Tuesday, President Obama paid homage to the free market and families while driving home his central point that government knows best.

He began and ended with stories of individuals doing great things. He even said families are important and called for a five-year freeze on domestic spending. In between, he promoted more spending under the guise of “investment,” boasted of government takeovers of health care and student loans, blamed George W. Bush for the economic mess (“a legacy of deficit spending that began almost a decade ago”), took nasty shots at the oil and health insurance industries, and engaged in class warfare:

“Before we take money away from our schools or scholarships away from our students, we should ask millionaires to give up their tax break. It’s not a matter of punishing their success. It’s about promoting America’s success.”

Tough cheese, Mr. Obama says. “It is time to leave behind the divisive battles of the past. It is time to move forward as one nation.” This is socialist talk for “Resistance is futile. America’s plunge into depravity and moral confusion cannot be reversed. We won’t let it.”

A free society with free people and free markets runs on incentives. Socialism always depends on coercion.

more: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/jan/28/socialisms-state-of-the-union/

I think you're a little off base saying this ruined the community bank. There have always been a great deal of these banks that have chose to stay local and many have prospered since the 80s.

If banks want to enjoy the protection of the FDIC they have a few hoops to jump through and to be frank I don't think there are many people that would save at that bank if they weren't FDIC insured. With that security comes other by-products similar to how the federal government puts stipulations on who ever they give money to. Want federal highway money, then you must...... the list goes on.

Please stop pointing the finger and saying look it is their fault because.... there is enough culpability from both teams. I you would like I'll get my wife to chime in, with her degree in economics and 20 plus years in the banking industry at least you'll hear it straight, not some blogger's slanted opinion piece.