Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner's announcement that the Obama Administration would drop a controversial provision proposed for a new Consumer Financial Protection Agency shouldn't deter the agency's supporters. There's still lots to like in this important effort toward protecting consumers from predatory and unfair practices in the financial industry. 

Geithner said the Administration had backed down from its recommendation to require financial institutions to offer "plain vanilla" financial products, like 30-year-fixed loans, to consumers. And certain players in the marketplace, including ordinary retailers who aren't in the credit business, would be exempt from the new agency's oversight. 

Quite likely the latter change was a response to pressure from groups such as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which has been using ads like the one pictured here to drum up antagonism against the CFPA. This ad suggests that small businesses that extend credit to consumers wouldn't be able to do so–to the detriment of the businesses and consumers–if the CFPA, as proposed, were passed.

We'll see what details remain once the House and Senate finance committees submit their bills later this fall. But there's still much to like about the fundamental vision for the agency, including:

•Consolidated oversight over the institutions that offer consumer financial products and services. This puts consumer protection clearly under one roof, so it's not spread out among many agencies likely to ignore it or put it on the back burner. It's that mishmosh of oversight that led, in part, to the sub-prime meltdown.