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I live in Ohio's 8th Congressional district represented by House Minority Leader John Boehner. In his October 10th guest column in the Journal-News www.journal-news.com, John Boehner blames the financial bailout on "politicians and bureaucrats who weren't fulfilling their oversight responsibility... Executives at Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and other firms were permitted to run rampant, engaging in free-wheeling and irresponsible business schemes that ultimately imperiled our economy." Boehner, however, goes on to distance himself from those politicians. As the Republican House leader, Boehner refuses to admit his own oversight failures or reveal his own financial relationship with these firms. Worse, he tries to frame the problem as a partisan issue. Boehner's criticisms are like the pot calling the kettle black.

Our nation's financial crisis is the result of poor governance by both parties in Washington. The last time Congress seriously debated how to regulate the financial industry, the result was legislation that John Boehner voted for, and Bill Clinton signed - the 1999 Financial Services Modernization Act. It allowed the nation's largest banks to get even larger and take risks that had been prohibited since the Great Depression.

Before then, the financial industry had been segregated by government regulations from 1933, when Congress passed, and FDR signed, the Glass-Steagall Act. The law responded to concerns that over-speculation by banks during the 1920s contributed to the stock market crash of 1929. Commercial banks were taking too many risks with their depositors' money. Glass-Steagall set up a regulatory wall between investment banking and commercial banking, prohibiting commercial banks from underwriting insurance or securities.

In an effort to overturn Glass-Steagall, the financial services sector has spent millions lobbying Congress in order to reap billions in profits. Both Democrats and Republicans have been influenced by the campaign contributions lavished upon them by the financial lobby. According to the non-partisan Center for Responsive Politics www.opensecrets.org, John Boehner has received over $2.9 million from the financial sector from 1989-2008. He has received a total of $67,750 from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac over the same period.

Senator John McCain, who was stung by a money scandal and then became a crusader for tighter laws, said, "The people whom I serve believe the means by which I came to office corrupt me. That shames me. Their contempt is a stain upon my honor, and I cannot live with it." (Remarks delivered upon receiving the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award Ceremony, May 24, 1999.)

McCain took ownership of his failure and became a national leader for it. It's time for John Boehner to do the same.

Learn more about this author, Greg Brown.
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