Competition is what makes Wal Mart better than target. It is what makes Prius better than the Volt.
Without competition, monopolies get fat, lazy and corrupt.
Banks need competition. That is what Credit Unions bring to the table. They keep finance rates lower, provide alternatives and in many cases better service.
“H.R. 1418, introduced by Republican Ed Royce from Southern California and its companion bill in the Senate S.2231, would raise an arbitrary cap placed on the amount of business loans credit unions can make from 12.25% of the financial institutions up to 27.5% on a tiered basis.”
At a time businesses have problems getting bailed out banks to loan money, Credit Union can create the competition to get the banks to loan money, instead of giving big bonuses for NOT loaning money.
Competition is the American way.
Editorial by Stephen Frank “Allow Credit Unions to Compete With Banks—Support H.R. 1418 by Royce”
For the California Political News and Views, 4/13/12
Republicans and conservatives of all stripes can agree on a few things. One of the most significant is Government has consistently overreached good sense in the regulation of industry on the local, state, and federal levels. Here in California we know what it means to be overregulated. So when a bill that works to ease regulation in a common sense way comes before Congress we all rejoice. H.R. 1418, introduced by Republican Ed Royce from Southern California and its companion bill in the Senate S.2231, would raise an arbitrary cap placed on the amount of business loans credit unions can make from 12.25% of the financial institutions up to 27.5% on a tiered basis.
Sounds like inside baseball, sure, but here’s what’s important to know. Credit unions have millions of dollars to loan to entrepreneurs and small business owners who are pleading for capital to be made available so they can begin to grow our economy again. As Ronald Reagan said, and as we so often find, “government is not the solution, government is the problem.” But, what we also know is that what government breaks, often, only government can fix. This is a perfect example. Government forced this arbitrary cap of 12.25% on business loans onto credit unions in the late nineties where no cap ever existed. Now many Senators and Representatives are sitting on their hands unwilling to take action to unleash the creative power of the American people to build businesses and grow jobs.
To make matters worse for Republicans, the hang-up has consistently been Republicans in the Senate. This is mystifying. How can a bill authored by a staunch conservative like Ed Royce and co-sponsored by conservatives like Tom McClintock, and even libertarian Republicans like Rand Paul in the Senate be tough for any Republican to support? The answer, the bill is opposed by those same financial institutions who took billions in TARP dollars. Tax dollars, buying bad behavior, all while credit unions ask to simply be allowed to assist small businesses. Oh, and by the way credit unions never took TARP dollars, and this bill would cost exactly zero tax dollars.
The fact is that credit unions are sitting on millions of dollars to loan to California businesses, not to mention businesses throughout the rest of the country, and they’re being told, “sorry, we won’t let you.” At the end of the day it’s the average American who suffers. The fledgling business in need of credit to grow, or even the entrepreneur who dreams of breaking from being an employee to achieving the American dream of self-employment, they’re the ones who pay for congress’ inaction. Oh and along the way, if these businesses are given the tools they need to grow, or even start up, they just so happen to employ others.
The fact is that according to the federal government, 65 percent of net new jobs over the last 17 years have been created by small businesses. Here we are years into the longest downturn since the great depression and America is still asking, “where’s the jobs?” The reason that government has been unable to answer that question is that it has been standing directly in the way of the only engine America has to grow new jobs, small businesses. So, now it’s time they moved out of our way.
Here in Californiamany of our Republican representatives understand the issue, thankfully. Ed Royce should be thanked for his leadership and his ability to reach out to even the farthest opposed politically to get something done for the country that actually makes sense and gets more Americans back to work.
