By Frank J. Diekmann
Prepare thyself! Repent! For this week there shall be a great Biblical gnashing of teeth and the beating of chests. Grievous woe will be pronounced, anger vented, fists raised to the heavens. And then? Absolutely. Nothing. Will. Happen. Again.
The setting for all these holy exclamations shall not be Bethlehem, but instead that most unholy of Gomorrahs, Washington, D.C., and in particular the Capitol Hyatt, which will be hosting NAFCU’s Congressional Caucus.
Speaking of Biblical scenarios, you say Washington has never been more of a Heaven and Hell divide of partisanship than it is right now. Then prepare thee for the unity of all political tribes, for during the Caucus members of Congress, Republicans and Democrats alike, left-wingers, right-wingers and wingers and prayers will all come together to unite in abundant bipartisan agreement, and in the process of giving their own Sermons from the Mounting Deficit will check off one or all of these boxes:
- The regulatory burden is too heavy on credit unions
- The problem is Wall Street, not Main Street
- There is no middle ground—America’s credit unions are good for the middle class
- The CFPB isn’t accountable to anyone, and must be
- You didn’t do the crime, and you shouldn’t be doing the time
- And in a new applause line tailor made for credit union meetings, “You’re not Wells Fargo.”
In fact, speaking of church, I’d urge Congressional Caucus attendees to print out this list and create a BINGO card from it.
I’d say this is the one time everyone is on the same song sheet in the same choir in D.C., but Congressional Caucus, like GAC and all the Hill Hikes, is really more like a hip hop concert for middle-aged and older white people:
I say regulatory, you say Burden
I say What’s the cost, You say we’re hurtin’…
Hey, we got some agreement up in this House! And Senate!
And the political will to actually do something about these challenges that everyone seems to agree on shall last right up to the moment the member of Congress or Administration official says “Thank you, and God bless America,” and then steps away from the podium.
Red Meat, Green Currency
CUToday.info will have full coverage from NAFCU’s Caucus, and in the spirit of the Bible’s prophets I’ll share this revelation–much of what’s the speakers will have to say will be exactly what’s mentioned above. Regulatory relief is red meat for politicians speaking to financial institutions, like blasting “special interests” when they're home in their districts and states (credit unions are one of those special interests). The members of Congress will all play the empathy card with credit unions about the costs of compliance—and some will even mean it—and they will be right—it IS crushing, it IS overwhelming, and ultimately it IS coming out of members’ pockets. It also IS something they could do something about, and once again, won’t.
The result of all of it is that more small credit unions will pull down the shades for a final time, in many cases shuttering the last remaining local lenders in those small towns our representatives are so fond of mentioning, especially this (Lord, let it end soon) election season.
And what will change? How will the burden be made lighter? Who will reach across the aisle to help throw the life preserver toward the drowning Little Man whose umbrella couldn’t stop the flood?
I say nobody will, you say you’re certain,
We say it sounded good, as you’re closin’ the curtains
Maybe I’m being too harsh, as there is of course one other area where you can always find bipartisanship at work during a credit union meeting, and that’s members of Congress grabbing a PAC check on the way out the door. BINGO!
Frank J. Diekmann can be reached at Frank@CUToday.info and @FrankCUToday