O-man's Got It All Figured Out

What we need is a federal Consumer Protection Agency - yeah, that's the ticket!

A new consumer-protection agency pushed by President Barack Obama would have wide powers to regulate financial products used by millions of Americans, potentially spanning mortgages, credit cards, annuities and even basic bank accounts.

This key to the recovery, Obama tells us. What would it do to help?

The new agency will have the power to enforce fair-lending laws and the Community Reinvestment Act, which had traditionally been overseen by federal bank regulators. This could put more pressure on banks to make more loans to low-income borrowers.

Of course! That's exactly what we need to do to get us back on the right footing - force banks to lend even more to poor people.