• Washington Post, Friday, July 17, 2009 10:37 AM

Consumer advocates praised the Obama administration's proposal to create a Consumer Financial Protection Agency in testimony before the House Financial Services Committee yesterday, Brady Dennis reports, countering a chorus of negative comments from financial and business interests the day before.

"It targets the most significant underlying causes of the massive regulatory failures that have harmed millions of Americans," according to Travis Plunkett, legislative director for the Consumer Federation of America.

Critics of the plan say it will add another layer of government regulation, increase costs, stifle innovation and curtail choices for consumers. But Ed Mierzwinski, consumer program director at the U.S. Public Interest Research Group, offers this fiery trope in response: "We regulate toasters to make sure they don't catch fire. We're not banning toasters," he says. "We're simply saying they have to be safe."

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