Here at Wallet Blog, we have been reporting on the fallout of the CDS scandal by looking not only at the issue as it is affecting us now, but also at who is responsible for allowing unregulated trading of Credit Default Swaps (CDS) to occur in the first place.  We have pointed out that the laws that made Credit Default Swaps illegal, which had been in place for over 90 years, were repealed by congress in its passing of the Commodity Futures Modernization Act in December of 2000.  The repeal of these laws has cost hundreds of billions of dollars in tax payer money, including the $180 billion that taxpayers are paying for the collapse of AIG alone.

Since our reportage, some of our readers have asked us for an explanation as to why there has been no significant mention of congress’s role in the production of the CDS scandal within mainstream media.  Here at Wallet Blog, we too are troubled that the media has, in general, avoided taking lawmakers to task for their votes.  We are equally troubled by the overwhelming number of congressmen and women who voted this bill into law and who are, therefore, responsible for the legislation that is currently devastating the American economy.  In the House of Representatives, the bill passed 291 with only 60 representatives voting no.  In the senate, the bill passed unanimously without a single voice of objection.

Below we have compiled a list of all congressmen and women who voted for the Commodity Futures Modernization Act because they either did not read or did not understand the effects of creating a completely unregulated market of insurance products (i.e. Credit Default Swaps). We have also included their political affiliation, state, and whether or not they are still in office.

From the House of Representatives here are the 291 members that votes ‘yes’:

…and from the Senate here are the 100 members that voted ‘yes’:

Last but not least here is a list of the 60 congressmen and women who DID NOT VOTE for the Commodity Futures Modernization Act: