The 1999 bill was called Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act. "Gramm" and "Leach" being the appropriate words here. Senator McCain voted with 53 other Republicans to pass this deregulatory crap stick. Not a single Democrat voted 'yea'.
The law opened up an entire decade of banking excesses and can be directly traced to what's happening now.
And despite what Tucker Bounds says, Phil Gramm would be McCain's Treasury Secretary. The author of this bill would become the steward of the recovery. That's not change we can believe in, my friends.