Dodd's new financial bill means Fed wins, consumers could lose

Senator Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) gave up trying to find a bipartisan compromise on the bill to overhaul the financial regulatory system and plans to introduce a new version of the bill on Monday. The House of Representatives passed a financial reform bill in December with a separate agency for consumer financial protection to be known as the Consumer Financial Protection Agency (CFPA).

Unfortunately Dodd does not think he can get a bill that includes a separate consumer financial agency passed in the Senate, especially now that the Democrats no longer have a 60-vote majority. So he's backing away from his earlier stance to weaken the Federal Reserve and plans to put a new division inside the Federal Reserve, which he says will have autonomy -- but will it be enough?