Congress finally getting serious about regulating financial institutions

Congress dragged its feet all year to try to get a comprehensive financial package out of the House Financial Services Committee. But members of Congress have realized that isn't going to happen, and the public is getting impatient to see them reign in abuses by financial institutions that took us down the road to financial disaster.

Finally, in the past two weeks, bills have been moving out of the committee, including a bill to reform credit-rating agencies, a bill to require most hedge funds and private-equity funds to register with the SEC, and a bill to create a new consumer financial-protection agency. The committee is now ready to take up the most difficult task -- a bill to make sure taxpayers will never again have to bail out Wall Street.