Financial Reform

I know this is the post you all have been waiting for. Well, it's here! The Senate has passed the financial bill:

The Senate approved far-reaching new financial rules on Thursday aimed at preventing the risky behavior and regulatory failures that brought the economy to the brink of collapse two years ago and cost millions of Americans their jobs and savings.

Details:

In providing for the most profound remaking of financial regulations since the Great Depression, the legislation would create a new consumer-protection watchdog housed at the Federal Reserve to prevent abuse in mortgage, auto and credit card lending. It also would give the government power to wind down large failing financial firms and set up a council of federal overseers to police the financial landscape for risks to the global economy. Moreover, the legislation would establish oversight of the vast market in financial instruments known as derivatives, impose new restrictions on credit rating agencies and give shareholders a say in corporate affairs.

I thought we already had a consumer protection watch dog. I believe it's called the SEC. I guess this new watch dog will be doing a different job. I don't blame these companies for the meltdown. It's people's personal responsibilities to understand what they are getting into. Everyone has ripped adjustable rate mortgages and everything and no one has ripped the people who got these mortgages. Yes, the banks shouldn't have lent to these people. Once the rates went up, they were sure to default. However, the people needed to be more responsible. We as a nation have gotten out of control with our consumption and our idea of wealth. We don't just need financial reform, we need to reform the idea of finance on an individual level in this country.