As lawmakers move toward the regulatory overhaul of the financial industry lobbyist have stepped up their efforts.  Millions are being spent to prevent the creation of the Consumer Financial Protection Agency but the American people and Congress must remain vigilant. 

House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank (D-Mass.) is preparing a new draft of legislation that would set up a Consumer Financial Protection Agency (CFPA) with broad authority to regulate consumer products such as home loans and credit cards.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is leading a coalition of 25 lobbying associations against the agency plans. The associations include: the Business Roundtable, Consumer Bankers of America, Financial Services Roundtable and National Association of Homebuilders, among others.

At the same time, a group of 15 law professors sent lawmakers a letter this week backing the new regulatory agency.

The proposal for a new agency has emerged as an early flashpoint in the broader debate over a series of new financial regulations that also include major changes to the regulation of banks and complicated financial derivatives

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