In 1911, Standard Oil underwent what many of today’s conservatives would decry as government and judicial overreach; the petroleum giant — 41 years old and originally from Cleveland — was taken apart by the U.S. Supreme Court.  

Even as reckless Wall Street investors ring the alarms and bellow about needing $700 billion in taxpayer money to avoid an economic meltdown, some of them are trying to pin the blame on lower- and middle-class homeowners.