Thursday, October 22, 2009

House committee approves financial protection agency

Good news:
A U.S. congressional committee on Thursday endorsed creating a federal financial consumer watchdog, giving the Obama administration a victory, but only after one of its key proposals was pared back.

The House of Representatives Financial Services Committee, in a 39-29 vote after four days of debate, backed legislation to set up the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Agency, which would regulate mortgages, credit cards and other products.

I know there are some libertarian types that might object to this, but it's worth stating that consumer product protection agencies haven't yet destroyed capitalism. This sort of reform is sorely needed, and it's good to see it moving forward.
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The Man, The Myth, The Bio

East Bay, California, United States
Problem: I have lots of opinions on politics and culture that I need to vent. If I do not do this I will wind up muttering to myself, and that's only like one or two steps away from being a hobo. Solution: I write two blogs. A political blog that has some evident sympathies (pro-Obama, mostly liberal though I dissent on some issues, like guns and trade) and a culture blog that does, well, cultural essays in a more long-form manner. My particular thing is taking overrated things (movies, mostly, but other things too) down a peg and putting underrated things up a peg. I'm sort of the court of last resort, and I tend to focus on more obscure cultural phenomena.