FYI: Ohio Republican Rep. Bob Ney introduced his Responsible Lending Act yesterday, a bill that will preempt all state and local anti-predatory lending laws with a new federal standard. The problem is that Ney’s bill is weaker than existing local laws, including those recently passed in both New York State and New York City. The bill even weakens existing federal protections, making it more difficult to hold big banks accountable for fraudulent loans they purchase from small mortgage lenders. [2/14/03]