Washington’s transition from their seemingly unwavering support of Wall Street to a new dedication to the American consumer has been rather slow, but the momentum is picking up. While the House of Representatives passed a bill on Friday that included the creation of the Consumer Financial Protection Agency (CFPA), President Obama met with the nation’s largest banks yesterday, asking them to step up their lending to consumers — both homebuyers and small business owners alike.

Perhaps ironically, the president’s plea to the banks comes at the same time many of them have (or are working hard to) paid back TARP funds in order to get out from under these kinds of pressures: Read the rest of this entry »