During the week of Sept. 15, the nation witnessed the damaging effect the mortgage and credit crisis is having on the economy. Easy credit policies, overheated housing speculation, predatory lending, bad ratings and unsecured loans, having created an artificial valuation house of cards, resulted in massive foreclosures and bankruptcy for financial institutions and homeowners at every income level.

The administration has only chosen to respond recently, after the market burst, with the biggest financial system bailout the nation has seen in 80 years.

Guess what? Sen. Barack Obama saw it coming.

On March 22, 2007, Obama addressed a letter to the Federal Reserve, urging officials to convene a “homeownership preservation summit,” saying, “We cannot sit on the sidelines while increasing numbers of American families face the risk of losing their homes.”

He explained, government officials must “eliminate deceptive or abusive practices, preserve homeownership, and stabilize housing markets” and “act quickly” to “mitigate the danger.”

Regardless of who becomes president, it is clear that some parts of the nation’s economy must have greater government regulation and oversight to guard against the scandals that have plagued the housing and credit markets.

That regulation must create a public benefit for all Americans, not just private returns for the architects of the problem.

Ari Rosenberg, Lewiston