T he implosion of the subprime lending industry is more than a temporary blip in our econ-omic progress. It is a cancer that, given today's integrated financial markets, threatens to spread with devastating impact to housing and to our economy as a whole, unless we act to contain it.

It is also a parable about howan excess of lobbying and influencecan defeat common sense rules ofthe road, placing both consumers and our nation's economic well-beingat risk.