"There will be no more taxpayer-funded bailouts. Period." Those were the bold words uttered by President Barack Obama on July 21, 2010 right before signing the long-awaited and much needed Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act.

We all know the story by now about the financial collapse of 2008 that we are still feeling the effects of today in mid 2010. Banks had grown unusually large and shockingly reckless. Despite the growing partisanship that has infected our Congress in 2010 and despite the anti-government sentiment sweeping around the country, most people actually agreed that this legislation was necessary.

While this bill is not transformative, it is still sweeping and contains a number of provisions that will protect ordinary Americans like never before. First and foremost is the creation of a new Consumer Financial Protection Agency. This agency will be charged with simplifying mortgage applications, protecting families from deceptive mortgage lending practices, protect individuals from unfair interest rate hikes on their credit cards, and protect people from ridiculous overdraft fees. In fact, banks will be required by law to ask their customers whether they want to overdrafts to be approved or denied whereas before, people had no choice but to live with the fees regardless of the amount they overdrew. This is but the tip of the ice berg.

American taxpayers will no longer be on the hook to wind down financial institutions that may fail. New capital requirements will force banks to think twice before being reckless because the taxpayers will no longer be an option. Moreover, the government can now choose to wind down failing institutions in a responsible manner as opposed to letting them push their losses onto consumers. In addition, the “Volcker Rule” will ensure that banks are no longer allowed to own, invest, or sponsor hedge funds, private equity funds, or proprietary trading operations for their own profit. They may only do so on the behalf of consumers who wish to acquire them.

Derivatives will also no longer be free from oversight and regulation. They must now be traded on the open market and subject to the same rules and regulations that govern the trading of stocks and other common forms of financial capital. These are all an excellent start but it is only the beginning. The Financial Protection Agency still needs to have its director appointed and it will need to be someone who truly is looking out for the average American. There are dozens of regulations that need to be written in order for this law to be enforced.

Sweeping is a good word to describe this new law but as stated months before, more must still be done. Unfortunately, an amendment to break up the banks was voted down in the U.S. Senate after receiving less than 40 votes. While the big banks no longer have the freedom to police one another, they still are just too big for smaller banks to really compete on a level playing field. Perhaps in the not so distant future, these firms will be broken up.

While bipartisanship is still largely a fantasy in 2010, we must applaud the 6 Republicans who voted for this legislation. Representatives Cao, Castle and Jones voted for this legislation in the U.S. House and Senators Collins, Snowe and Brown of Massachusetts did so in the Senate. Regrettably, they were the only ones brave enough to do what is necessary and in the best interests of the people. The College Democrats at UCF applaud them along with our Democratic officials and President Obama for enacting historic legislation. We truly hope that the American taxpayers never have to bail out the banks again and this legislation provides a strong foundation to prevent it.