According to Forbes, it’s “tighter standards”, but by the standards of any thinking human being, it’s a big wet tongue kiss on the mouth of the bad players in this drama.

The only substantive proposal is better licensing of mortgage brokers, the rest is voluntary, and it’s clear that Paulson, and the rest of Bush’s cronies, are not interested in reform when they say, “The objective here is to get the balance right — regulation needs to catch up with innovation and help restore investor confidence but not go so far as to create new problems, make our markets less efficient or cut off credit to those who need it.”

Let me explain this in very simple terms, the so-called “innovation” that Paulson is looking to preserve, is deception, complexity, fraud, self dealing, and general corruption.

These “innovations” did not make housing less expensive, or easier to get. They caused housing inflation, and threatened the stability of our housing market, banking system, and society.

This so-called innovation is not something we need to protect. We need to put a stake through it’s black heart.