Can Anyone Say "Too Little, Too Late?"

Or, in another metaphor, doesn't this amount to locking the barn door after the horse has already escaped?

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Federal Reserve will issue new rules next week aimed at protecting future homebuyers from dubious lending practices, its most sweeping response to a housing crisis that has propelled foreclosures to record highs.

Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke spoke of the much-awaited rules in a broader speech Tuesday about the challenges confronting policymakers in trying to stabilize a shaky U.S. financial system. To that end, Bernanke said the Fed may give squeezed Wall Street firms more time to tap the central bank's emergency loan program.

To prevent a repeat of the current mortgage mess, Bernanke said the Fed will adopt rules cracking down on a range of shady lending practices that have burned many of the nation's riskiest "subprime" borrowers - those with spotty credit or low incomes - who were hardest hit by the housing and credit debacles.

Too bad they never bothered to do this 5 years ago when public officals like Cuyahoga County Treasurer Jim Rokakis were warning of the issues involving subprime lending.