Bank Lobby Still Trying To Kill Credit Unions (blind pursuit of profits over nation and citizens)

   (Commentary posted by Roger Erickson)

Starts out as a local issue raised by one lobby.

Runs amok when that lobby loses sight of all other inter-dependencies, and forgets that there must be tolerance limits on everything. Or else we don't have a culture. Only a mob. 

Instead of blind competition, what about the return on coordination?

http://www.frbsf.org/education/publications/doctor-econ/2005/march/credit-unions-regulation-supervision 

http://www.stlouisfed.org/publications/pub_assets/pdf/re/2013/b/banks_creditunions.pdf 

https://thefinancialbrand.com/29640/credit-unions-fight-banks-over-community-charters/

(hat tip Tom Hickey)

You want context? Consider the words of Marriner Eccles, 1932:

"The operation of our money world has failed to be our servant and instead is our tyrant and master." 

"We must correct the causes of the depression rather than deal with the effects of it!"

That was 82 years ago!!! Has the US electorate lost sight of Public Purpose? Have we lost sight of national goals?

L A Times — Banks lobby to kill credit unions.

Credit unions have been snatching customers from banks amid consumer frustration over rising fees and outrage over Wall Street's role in the financial crisis. 

Now banks are fighting back by trying to take away something vital to credit unions — their federal tax exemption.

With fast-growing credit unions posing more formidable competition to banks, industry trade groups are pressing the White House and Congress to end a tax break that dates to the Great Depression....

Credit unions said the effort to take away their tax exemption was simply an attempt to stifle competition and remove one of the only checks on bank fees for consumers.And it comes as some in Congress are pushing to loosen regulations on credit unions so they can expand their business further, including legislation that would lift a cap on the amount of money they can lend to businesses.

The tax exemption is crucial to credit unions, which by law can't raise capital through public stock offerings the way that banks can, said Fred R. Becker Jr., president of the National Assn. of Federal Credit Unions, a trade group with about 3,800 federally chartered members.

"They'll have to convert to banks, which is what the banks want," he said. "Then they'd have, for lack of a better term, a monopoly."

Los Angeles Times
Banks pushing for repeal of credit unions' federal tax exemption
Jim Puzzanghera

Also:

Miami Herald

Credit unions fight back against tax repeal efforts 
George Joseph | Dade Couty Federal Credit Union

At the moment, it’s a war of words, but very soon the debate to tax credit unions will hit the streets. 

This week, credit union supporters from South Florida and throughout the country will descend on Washington, D.C. to “Hike the Hill” and meet with lawmakers to stress the importance of keeping in place the federal tax exemption for credit unions.

The debate is nothing new. For years, the big banks have lobbied Congress to repeal the tax exemption status. This time around, they declared war.....

Any individuals who feel strongly about the taxation issue are encouraged to ... sign the “Don’t Tax My Credit Union” petition.

Washington's Blog — Public Banking Conference good news: all solutions already here for deficits, debt, full-employment

Some interesting stuff from the Public Banking Conference, and not just public banking.

Washington's Blog
It Only Takes $20 Million to Start a Public Bank

Posted by Barry Ritholtz at The Big Picture
(h/t Keven Fathi via email)

Community banks and credit unions duke it out in DC

In early February, Alabama Republican Spencer Bachus called for a meeting between two of the most quietly influential interest groups in the nation's capital: credit unions and community banks. 

Bachus, chairman of the powerful House Financial Services Committee, was looking to ensure the passage of a slew of federal favors benefiting both sides. All the lobbyists had to do was show up at a meeting and figure out how to work together.

It was too much to ask.

The Credit Union National Association and the Independent Community Bankers Association immediately agreed to the sit-down, but as the meeting approached the community bankers abruptly cancelled the event, according to lobbyists and congressional staffers familiar with the plans.

Read it at The Huffington Post
'We'll Fight This To The Death': The Vicious Capitol Hill Battle Between Banks and Credit Unions

by Ryan Grim and Zach Carter