Washington D.C., Friday December 11, 2009 – The House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed a heavily amended financial reform bill by a vote of 223-202 with no Republican support and with over two dozen Democrats voting against it.

H.R. 4173, The Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2009 is the House response to the administration’s desire to create a new agency to perform the consumer protection functions previously performed by seven existing agencies. However, somewhere on its trip through the House Financial Services Committee, HR 4173 became much more than consumer protection. Now, at over 1,270 pages, this bill continues the march to larger, more complex government and builds rather than consolidates bureaucracy. While the original idea was to create the Consumer Financial Protection Agency, this bill, if it finds its way through the Senate and on to the President for signature, will bring along with it an earlier attempt by the House Democrats to control the mortgage industry. The March 2009 Miller/Frank Mortgage Reform and Predatory Lending Act (H.R. 1728) is included (its not part of the 1,279 pages already in the content) in the bill as Title VII. With virtually no change from its original form the predatory lending title will continue to increase complexity and burden on the mortgage industry in the name of protecting the consumer. More on this bill and the addition of the Mortgage Reform and Predatory Lending Act is available for registered users here…