The financial crisis ushered in a kind of transition period. Americans were in a purple-faced rage at an industry they more or less correctly perceive as having first destroyed the economy, then received a generous bailout and resumed making obscene money while the rest of the country suffered. The rage was strong enough to make politicians of all stripes leery of appearing close to the industry. That hesitation is what allowed liberals to pass the Dodd-Frank law -- just enough Republicans and moderate Democrats were frightened to be seen as carrying Wall Street water to force them to support a potentially serious reform.