How about new Federal Government agency for your protection? That’s right. Today the U.S. Senate Banking Chairman Christopher Dodd D-Conn, said he supports the creation of a new independent consumer protection agency that would regulate credit and banking products.

Senator Dodd stated: “If the financial crisis has proven one thing, it is that protecting the financial well-being of American consumers should be our first priority as we work to bring our financial regulatory structure into the 21st century. I am committed to making this agency the centerpiece of my efforts and I will work with President Obama and my colleagues to rebuild our financial architecture from the bottom up.”

Okay, this sounds like a worthwhile effort, but wait. This week Senator Dodd also chose to become a cosponsor of Senator Durbin’s S.500 bill, another plan designed to protect US consumers. But should S.500 be passed in its current form, the pawnbroking industry in the US would quickly shutter its doors and pawn shops would no longer be a short-term credit provider in this country.

Is this really rebuilding our financial architecture? If so, in just my own personal pawn database, I hold the information for 23,000 pawnshop customers who have come to me for vital short-term consumer credit. I’m sure that at least some of my pawn shop loan customers may be interested in holding a position on the new independent consumer protection agency. This way, all US consumers would be protected.