SAN ANTONIO — The Texas Credit Union League's advocacy push to court the media and spread the word about the CU role in grappling with the mortgage and credit crises paid off with one positive dividend last week: a tongue-in-cheek critique of the bankers' stance on the Credit Union Regulatory Improvements Act (H.R. 1537) and opposition to CU business lending appeared in a column of the San Antonio Express News.

In a lead article published Feb. 27 and hitting on subprime troubles, business columnist David Hendricks scolded banks as greedy and hypocritical for opposing CU efforts to help small business owners get loans from CUs.

"Shame" on credit unions, Hendricks wrote in mocking criticism for daring "to try to lure business away from banks." Those "darn credit unions have simply done it again" by wanting to lend money to distressed small business, said Hendricks in the article entitled, "Man, credit unions have really got their nerve."