I noted yesterday that the banks are planning a "Harry and Louise"-style ad campaign to roll back Obama's proposal for a consumer financial products regulator. Today Tim Fernholz had a nice piece up at the Prospect about the coming fight over the agency--and the administration's determination to win. In the piece, Tim recounts this particularly asinine exchange at the first hearing on the subject in the House:
At the same hearing, Rep. Jeb Hensarling, a Republican from Texas, painted a dark picture of big government telling his constituents what kind of bank accounts they would be allowed to have. He then demanded panelists raise their hands if they wanted to outlaw different financial products, an intentionally simplistic approach the plainly irritated the collected experts.
I never thought the day would come when we'd look back at the Harry and Louise ads and admire their sophistication. But Congressman Hensarling has ushered that day in. Well done.
--Noam Scheiber