Just to mention it, the current banking collapse was caused by both sides of the government, both the Republicans and Democrats.

• Glass-Steagall Act

This is the act was brought in after the great depression of the 1930's which sought to limit the risk that people's investments & savings were gambled, by separating banking services into different markets. After greasing many palms with hundreds of millions of dollars from the banking industry, the act was gradually repealed over the course of twenty years. The final nail in the coffin was in 1999 by a bi-partisan vote of the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act of 1999. There have been other bits along the way, but those were the biggies.

As for partisanship, one of the authors of the GLBA, Phil Gramm, had been McCain's primary economic advisor until he official stepped down in July after he bitched about people whining about the economy's problems, though he still unofficially advises him.