The current economic crisis exploded onto the scene within the past year. But there is strong circumstantial evidence that individuals in the government knew or that those lobbying them knew about this brewing crisis long before it became general knowledge.
The Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005 was passed and signed into law in April of 2005. This Act amended the bankruptcy laws to make it more difficult for ordinary Americans to receive a complete discharge of their debts (Chapter 7 Bankruptcy). It was first introduced around the time that the "Tech Bubble" was at its height. President Clinton pocket vetoed the legislation but it never died. A big push was made to enact a version of it again in 2005 and, with the help of a Republican Congress and a Republican President, the legislation passed.
On its own, this would not be suspicious. Many laws are drafted, circulated, and eventually passed when conditions in the Congress and the Administration are ripe. But there's more.
In his 2005 State of the Union Address, President Bush made a strong push for partial privatization of Social Security. The goal was to create "private accounts" that would flood the stock and bond markets with money from Social Security accounts of numerous individuals. Had this occurred, ordinary citizens would've searched for good returns, found them in the realm of bonds backed by mortgage securities, and would've pumped investments into traditionally secure institutions such as large banks as a hedge against market fluctuations.
In short, ordinary Americans would be caught holding the bag when the markets collapsed. We, of course, are still caught holding the bag due to the investment of large amounts of tax dollars into the large banks. But unlike now, where we are at least getting an equity investment in these institutions, we would've been buying out investments from investors in unregulated hedge funds. We would've bought the investments from the super rich at the peak of their value and would've subsequently taken the hit in our Social Security accounts.
This all fits in with the conservative philosophy that seeks to shrink the government by killing off New Deal programs. Nothing would've done more to destroy Social Security than to kill off the value of most Americans' Social Security accounts. Perhaps I'm ascribing too much competence to the conservative movement. But I think it's worth contemplating. As I said above, it's circumstantial. But to me, at least, it's damned compelling.
Thanks for reading.