Financial regulation is turning into a bigger muddle than it was before the crisis.

Nearly six months after the Obama administration unveiled its blueprint for the biggest overhaul of the financial system since the 1930s, lawmakers are still, well, talking. Regulators, meanwhile, don’t appear to be doing enough talking — with each other.

The Miller-Moore amendment to the House bill is a case in point. Taking their cue from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp’s Sheila Bair, the congressmen from North Carolina and Kansas have horrified some in New York who fear legislation holding secured lenders accountable could up-end the repo market, an arcane yet important source of financing in the bond market.

Perhaps the Federal Reserve should have been called in on this one. It is, after all, well versed in the world of repo and as a banking regulator should be part of the discussions anyway.

For its part, the Fed has been pushing the idea of contingent capital, the next big thing that will allow banks to increase their regulatory capital when they become distressed. But by doing so, they would introduce a new, untested security that will only theoretically better protect the financial system. Many said the same thing about credit default swaps.

A cap on leverage is one positive to come out of the House’s draft legislation.

There’s plenty of blame to go around when it comes to what caused the financial mess, but without excessive leverage there wouldn’t have been excessive risk taking.

Big banks are going to take risks. They are single-minded about making money. But when the taxpayer is the ultimate lender of last resort, they shouldn’t be allowed to do it with huge piles of borrowed money.

These are important issues, and regulators need to be talking more in public about them and coming to some sort of consensus quickly. Right now, it’s not clear whether turf battles or thoughtful discussions are influencing the shape of a financial overhaul.

There is plenty to be thankful for this Thanksgiving — the global financial system, for one thing, is no longer in freefall. But when it comes to meaningful financial reform, it’s not only hard to be thankful, it’s hard to be hopeful.