All labor that uplifts humanity has dignity and importance andshould be undertaken with painstaking excellence.” These are thewords of Martin Luther King Jr., whose dedication to equality andfreedom from poverty and oppression will continue to inspire forcenturies to come. It is fitting that a federal holiday wasestablished to honor him as his ideals and accomplishmentsrepresent what the United States was founded upon integrity andfreedom for all.

However, as the United States headed into Jan. 22, we were allreminded of how fortunate we are to live in a developed society bythe Jan. 12 earthquake that rocked impoverished Haiti. Not onlywere homes and businesses toppled and human lives lost forever, butits historically unstable government does not have the resources tohelp its people recover.

Our thoughts are with those stricken by this wrath of nature,including those who are there by choice such as the contingent fromWOCCU that is working on creating a better economy in one of thepoorest nations in the world. Bringing the credit union philosophythere will not only serve to improve the financial standing of thepeople of Haiti and educate them on financial matters. It will alsointroduce the people to democratic and capitalist fundamentals thatcan aid them in all areas of their lives and provide them greatercontrol over their own destinies.

Meanwhile in the U.S., one credit union that is moving forwardto preserve its own future is Goldenwest Credit Union in Utah. Whena local bank closed its doors, the $715 million Goldenwest reactednimbly and creatively to the news by opening its doors on MartinLuther King Day and creating specials for bank customers who joinedthem. The credit union staff even dared to hand out flyers in thebank's parking lot. Bold genius. Goldenwest continually updates itsconversions on Twitter. This tweet from @BenJoeM2, a Goldenwestemployee, says it all: “I can set a clock by how often the FDICcomes out and tells us to stop giving flyers out. (every hour).”What a great marriage of old-school shoe leather and social media,which was certain to increase the buzz exponentially. The localGoldenwest branch set a record for most accounts opened at a singlebranch. This is a truly impressive campaign and one that can beeasily replicated.

See and be seen. That's what credit unions are trying toaccomplish these days with the American public, but the NCUA's gagorder on WesCorp CEO Philip Perkins reminds me of what my motherused to say: “Children should be seen and not heard.” Like anerrant child, the agency has silenced this legitimate and informedsource of information regarding the corporate credit union proposedregulations.

Last week I did a Webinar for the National Cooperative BusinessAssociation on public relations. I used the NBA's attempt to quashthe picture of Wizards player Gilbert Arenas, who is accused ofpulling a gun on a teammate in the locker room, finger guns ablazeas an example of precisely what not to do. Trying to eliminatenegative press rather than working with it only draws moreattention to the problem. This is precisely what Chip Filsondemonstrated with his latest column “Why NCUA's Silencing ofWesCorp Was a Terrible Mistake and How to Correct It”(www.creditunions.com), in which he not only criticized the NCUA,which is not a big surprise coming from him, but he also postedWesCorp's letter to members and it's 25-page analysis. Americandemocracy would not exist without a free press.

But what of the free market? President Obama has announced hewants to limit the size of banks, mergers, investments and theintermingling of various parts of the financial services market.While the banking industry, among others, got greedy andoverstepped the bounds of reason, I'm wary of efforts by thegovernment to interfere with the free market. Often these attemptsare done in knee-jerk fashion and for reasons that are not alwaysin the best interest of the public though that's the usualguise.

Basically, the administration's proposal would “ensure that nobank or financial institution that contains a bank will own, investin or sponsor a hedge fund or private equity fund?unrelated toserving customers for its own profit” and “limit consolidation ofour financial sector.” On the surface, credit unions would not havetoo much to worry about from the first provision, and it couldsound reasonable. The second point is more targeting the Citigroupsof the banking world. However, credit unions should keep an eye onboth items, just as some credit unions were originally roped intothe systemic risk tax intended to protect taxpayers from large bankfailures.

At the same time, could these restrictions create morecompetition for credit unions? Just something to ponder.

In making the announcement, the president noted, “My resolve toreform the system is only strengthened when I see a return to oldpractices at some of the very firms fighting reform. And when I seerecord profits at some of the very firms claiming that they cannotlend more to small business, cannot keep credit card rates low andcannot refund taxpayers for the bailout.? It is exactly this kindof irresponsibility that makes clear reform is necessary.” Creditunions really need to jump on this statement and use it for all itsworth in lobbying and press efforts, from expanding businesslending to ensuring that credit unions are not roped into reformsthat were not intended for them.

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