Hover over this image for caption and link ↓↓↓

Funny or Die has taken the activist route by adding a ‘contact your senator’ message at the end of this hilarious video where the last 5 ex-presidents (as portrayed by Saturday Night LIve actors) visit Obama to give financial reform advice. So have a laugh then bug your Senator.

Below are key excerpts from the full transcript of Obama’s 12/12/09 response to the House reform bill. Also today, Obama hosted executives of the biggest financial firms at the White House and said big banks owed an “extraordinary commitment” to help rebuild a sustaining recovery after the government assistance they got. He also said that he’ll fight big bank lobbying against financial reforms: “If they are willing to fight common sense consumer protections, that’s a fight I’m willing to have.”

EXCERPTS FROM OBAMA’S COMMENTS ON HOUSE REFORM BILL
…The difficult steps we’ve taken since January have helped to break our fall, and begin to get us back on our feet. Our economy is growing again. The flood of job loss we saw at the beginning of this year slowed to a relative trickle last month. These are good signs for the future, but little comfort to all of our neighbors who remain out of a job. And my solemn commitment is to work every day, in every way I can, to push this recovery forward and build a new foundation for our lasting growth and prosperity. more…

Thought the healthcare debate was big in 2009? It looks like 2010′s financial regulatory reform debate could be bigger. The House today passed a bill (vote: 223-to-202) authored largely by House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank that will now be debated and reconciled with a Senate bill over the coming months with an eye toward overhauling banking and consumer protection rules by mid-2010.

The House bill proposes the Consumer Financial Protection Agency which would watch over financial firm practices with respect to home, credit card and car loans. The bill also has radical changes for the Fed: not so controversially, the bill moves power over consumer protection laws from the Fed to the newly created CFPA. Very controversially, it allows Congress to audit the Fed’s monetary policies. more…

Do the “Alphabet Song” and “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star” have the same tune? And did you just try singing the two songs?

New Appraisal Regs On Way Out?
Generally speaking, mortgage folks are a pretty optimistic bunch, although “trust but verify” is an approach that many use in their business lives. It turns out that the HVCC (Home Valuation Code of Conduct—a new set of regulations implemented May 2009 that prohibit loan agents from dealing with appraisers for Fannie/Freddie eligible loans), which has good intentions but arguably poor implementation and ramifications, could be on its way out. The House Financial Services Committee has just passed an amendment to the Consumer Financial Protection Agency Act to phase it out, and allow all loan originators, licensed or registered in accordance with the SAFE Mortgage Licensing Act, to order appraisals directly. H.R. 3126 is the number of this bill. Although this is just a committee vote, and still has a long way to go, it is a “first step” The Consumer Financial Protection Agency Act is expected to be merged with a number of other regulatory reform bills before moving to the House floor for a vote, and any differences must be ironed out within the House and then with any Senate versions before going to the President.

Warehouse Lending Update
In other good news, BB&T, who took over Colonial’s warehouse operation, named a new president of its Mortgage Warehouse Lending Division which is based in Orlando. Through the move, and their press release, BB&T signaled that they will continue their warehousing operation. “This is a commercial product that dovetails nicely with our retail mortgage business. After evaluating the business model, we plan to continue in the mortgage warehouse lending business. We feel it offers excellent growth opportunities given our client relationship model.” more…