The response to the financial institution regulatory reform proposal introduced yesterday by Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson has been striking. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the American Bankers Association, small banks and state attorneys general, left-leaning economists and analysists, and members of Congress, even the man with the max Street cred, Jim "I reiterate -- I am embarrassed by these guys. Thank heavens, no matter who wins the White House, they will soon be gone" Cramer, have trashed the plan unceremoniously.

The New York Times examines how a contractor, headed by a 22-year-old, came to supply Iraqi and Afghan security forces with 40-year-old ammunition. The firm, AEY, Inc., was awarded a $300 million contract to be a critical supplier of munitions to the Iraqi and Afghan security forces and supplied millions of rounds of ammunition from Cold War-era stockpiles in Eastern Bloc countries. AEY is one of many previously unknown defense companies to have thrived since 2003, when the Pentagon began dispensing billions of dollars to train and equip indigenous forces in Afghanistan and Iraq. Its rise from obscurity once seemed to make it a successful example of the Bush administration's promotion of private contractors as integral elements of war-fighting strategy.

House Oversight and Government Reform Committee chair Henry Waxman (D-CA) has sent a letter* to Attorney General Michael Mukasey asking why federal contracting rules have been changed such that they would "exempt overseas contracts from a requirement that the contractor detect and prevent fraud and report it to the government." AP: The United States has spent more than $102 billion over the last five years to help rebuild Iraq and Afghanistan. In that time, the Justice Department has uncovered at least $14 million in contract bribes in those two nations alone.

Bill Allison over at the Sunlight Foundation has a great blog up about a report in Roll Call that the House Appropriations committee website was overwhelmed with requests for earmarks shortly before yesterday's deadline. Because the website crashed, the deadline has been extended until next week.