For a dozen years, I've attended events like NAFCU's Congressional Caucus and CUNA's Governmental AffairsConference. Every year, wise members of Congress play to theiraudience, smile and shake hands. If there were babies there to kissat a credit union conference, they'd be doing that too. Politiciansstay politicians by telling the people what they want to hear.Actually doing something is an entirely different question.

One of the hot topics during the caucus was the ConsumerFinancial Protection Bureau. Many of the members acknowledged thatcredit unions were simply collateral damage in the legislativemaelstrom occurring in kneejerk reaction to the financial crisis.GOP Rep. Randy Neugebauer noted, “We understand what CFPB is goingto mean. We understand what impact interchange is going to have andeverything that's pouring out of this administration.”

That's very understanding, and I'm sure many in Congress,Republicans and even Democrats, feel the same way. But the factremains that nothing is being done by them to mitigate yet anotherlayer of regulatory oversight for credit unions and the addedexpense to the NCUA as the primary regulator.

On top of that, NCUA Chairman Debbie Matz has promised regulatory relief pairedwith new safety and soundness focused constraints. In particular,the chairman plans to issue proposals for loan originators tomaintain some skin in the game, as well as increased due diligenceon the buyers' end and investment concentration limits.Simultaneously, she said she wants to allow credit unions to usederivatives to hedge interest rate risk and count subordinated debttoward risk-based net worth.

The echo in the halls of the Mayflower Hotel where theannouncement came was that the details would be crucial to itslivability. Most industry observers don't see a rush to mutualsavings bank conversions or even private insurance, though some areeyeing their options, but what would it take?

Chairman Matz echoed her previous support to increase the memberbusiness lending cap. So did myriad members of Congress. At leastsince 2003, regulators and members of Congress have beenineffective in increasing the cap.

It takes more than Rep. Kurt Schrader saying, “The increase inthe small business lending cap–that's got to happen,” or Rep. Tim Scott during his motivating address stating, “We needto empower the people making good decisions to keep in making gooddecisions.” Rep. Scott made a much more important point: Creditunions must keep their members engaged in the process.

Credit union executives visiting members of Congress iscritical, but getting the credit union members involved ispriceless. That hasn't happened since the Campaign for ConsumerChoice.

Credit unions as a whole have not done a good job of keepingmembers informed of issues that are important to them and framingthem so that they become important to the members as well.Interchange was a prime example. If credit unions had been inregular contact with their members about various issues orcandidates or just get out the vote efforts, calling them to actionto defend against the Durbin amendment could have been seamless andmore effective.

It all starts with an informed board that understands theramifications of negative legislation and is willing to makeengage members a priority. The board can also work the issues inother organizations they participate in and so on from there talkcan grow exponentially. The credit union doesn't even have to takea side, though it would be more effective; it just needspolitically aware and involved members.

If you don't advocate for yourself, nobody else will, or at theleast it makes it that much more difficult for those who are paidto lobby for you to make a case. That means bringing members (read:voters) into the fight for what's right because another topic ofdiscussion in the halls at caucus was the tax exemption.

As a standalone, the repeal of credit unions' federal taxexemption would be a hard sell–at least without some significanttrade-offs, such as the business lending cap. However, if it'sswept up in the rush to the deficit reduction deadline there maynot be an opportunity to fight it as a single piece and negotiatefor expanded powers. The deficit reduction super committee deadlinefor recommendations is looming. Credit unions must have a truemember movement ready in time for the possible fight.