Bill Clinton is blamed for repealing Glass-Steagall.

[speak easy]

The Gramm–Leach–Bliley Act passed the House 362–57 and the Senate 90–8. A Presidential Veto under those circumstances would have been pointless, performative, and laughable, although those who subscribe to the Pickett's Charge theory of politics might disagree.

[muriel_volestrangler]

1. He seems to have been pretty happy to sign it, just as many Democrats were to vote for it

MARIA BARTIROMO

Mr. President, in 1999 you signed a bill essentially rolling back Glass-Steagall and deregulating banking. In light of what has gone on, do you regret that decision?

FORMER PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON

No, because it wasn't a complete deregulation at all. We still have heavy regulations and insurance on bank deposits, requirements on banks for capital and for disclosure. I thought at the time that it might lead to more stable investments and a reduced pressure on Wall Street to produce quarterly profits that were always bigger than the previous quarter. But I have really thought about this a lot. I don't see that signing that bill had anything to do with the current crisis. Indeed, one of the things that has helped stabilize the current situation as much as it has is the purchase of Merrill Lynch (MER) by Bank of America (BAC), which was much smoother than it would have been if I hadn't signed that bill.

Phil Gramm, who was then the head of the Senate Banking Committee and until recently a close economic adviser of Senator McCain, was a fierce proponent of banking deregulation. Did he sell you a bill of goods?

Not on this bill I don't think he did. You know, Phil Gramm and I disagreed on a lot of things, but he can't possibly be wrong about everything. On the Glass-Steagall thing, like I said, if you could demonstrate to me that it was a mistake, I'd be glad to look at the evidence. But I can't blame [the Republicans]. This wasn't something they forced me into. I really believed that given the level of oversight of banks and their ability to have more patient capital, if you made it possible for [commercial banks] to go into the investment banking business as Continental European investment banks could always do, that it might give us a more stable source of long-term investment.

https://web.archive.org/web/20150331041223/http://www.bloomberg.com/bw/stories/2008-09-23/bill-clinton-on-the-banking-crisis-mccain-and-hillary

[Justice Brandeis]

2. But vetoing it would have absolved him of the responsibility for its consequences

Much like Harry Truman vetoing the Taft-Hartley Act in 1947. It was overridden and became law, but he could wash his hands of it.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

3. I still think that Bill Clinton was a great POTUS

[gab13by13]

4. Next, let's look at his welfare reform,

[still-prayin4rain]

5. He doesn't run away from it

https://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/250838-bill-clinton-defends-repeal-of-glass-steagall/

"Clinton told Inc. in an interview. “Look at all the grief I got for signing the bill that ended Glass-Steagall. There’s not a single, solitary example that it had anything to do with the financial crash.”"

[speak easy]

6. But he could not have stopped it.

It would not have mattered who was president but Bill is not the kind of guy who readily admits to mistakes.

[still-prayin4rain]

8. Yeah, I see your point.

[speak easy]

9. Bill smoked Marijuana but he didn't inhale :)

[Kid Berwyn]

7. Blame may not be the right verb.