ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. – Former NCUA Board Member Geoff Bacino, now with Centrix Financial, was one of the key players in getting the Community Action Plan repealed. Bacino introduced the repeal of CAP back when he served with Yolanda Wheat and Dennis Dollar on the board. "Unfortunately credit unions viewed that as a Christmas present," said Bacino. He said the repeal of CAP was not meant to be the end of the push to get credit unions to document service to the underserved, but the beginning. After the recent House Ways and Means Committee hearing, Bacino said credit unions better get the message that Congress wants credit unions to document their services. Bacino commented on the NCUA Board returning to full strength. He said a board with its full complement does change the board's dynamics. "With a two person board, many proposals were not brought for a vote, whereas they would with the full three-person board." He described incoming board members Gigi Hyland and Rodney Hood as capable, solid additions to the board. Bacino, who is a political watchdog to say the least, also provided an interesting update on the political landscape in Washington. He said with President Bush's approval ratings very weak and Democrats polling better, they do have a chance to gain ground on the Republicans in Congress. He noted that on the issue of Social Security, Americans trust Democrats more by a 56% to 29% margin. They also win out on the economy by a 56% to 34% margin. But what's most interesting, said Bacino, is Democrats have made up ground on the terrorism issue, which has been Republican territory in recent years. A recent poll found the country split 42% Democrats and 42% Republicans on this lightning rod issue. Still, Bacino noted that it's hard to unseat incumbents. In the last four House elections, 98% of incumbents were re-elected; and in the last two Senate elections, 96% of incumbents were re-elected.