Obama Unveils New Financial System Plan

By Gan Matthews, NEWS 9

OKLAHOMA CITY -- President Obama unveiled plans Wednesday for a major overhaul of the nation's financial system and there are already skeptics to the President's plan.

No one wants another financial meltdown, so the president is outlining a strategy designed to make sure it never happens again.

In what is the most extensive regulatory overhaul in seventy years, President Obama wants the Federal Reserve Board to have more power over financial giants like AIG--those companies thought to be so big that their failure would threaten the entire economy.

"We are not only putting in place safeguards to prevent the failure of these firms, but also a set of orderly procedures that will allow us to protect the economy if such a firm does in fact go under," President Obama said.

Some of the Fed's authority would be given to a new agency, the Consumer Financial Protection Agency

Major banks are already opposing the new agency. Some Congressmen, like Rep. Eric Cantor of Virginia, don't want the Fed to become more powerful. Canton said we need smart regulation, not more regulation.

Democratic leaders in the U.S. House and Senate say the legislation to implement the overhaul will move swiftly.