Randomly Thinking: Who loves CUs more? Obama or Romney?

by: Patrick Harris, Director of Media and Public Relations, Ohio Credit Union League

Before I get nasty e-mails telling me how biased I am, Obama comes before Romney in the title of this column purely from an alphabetical standpoint. If Romney was running against candidate Romnez, he would be listed first. Let me also preface that this is by no means a voters’ guide, but rather a tribute to the lack of evidence linking Presidential candidates to the not-for-profit financial institutions we so passionately advocate for. My only analysis tools are a laptop, Google and my cell phone. I’m hardly CNN.

I do ask myself a pretty important question regularly: “If I was a living breathing credit union, who would I happily cast my vote for?”

I decided to go straight to the horse’s mouth, or in this case an elephant and donkey, and pose the question to the Romney and Obama Campaign’s Ohio offices (reverse alphabetical…fair is fair). I left a couple of messages, but did not hear a response. Granted, both candidates are in the Buckeye state so frequently, staffers are probably too busy hanging banners and blowing up balloons to answer my inquiry.

Moving on…I am sure their websites will outwardly show how credit union regulation reform, member business lending, supplemental capital, and protection of the CU tax status are hot button campaign issues. I tried to take the easy way out and use the search function on each candidate’s respective website, but “credit union” revealed no results on the President’s site and Romney’s gave us 13 matches to the words credit and union.

We’ll just have to read between the lines and see what each website says about the issues, and draw conclusions from there.

• On taxes: Romney’s website portends the Republican candidate believes the corporate tax rate (35%) is too high, and should be reduced. Oppositely, according to a chart, the President would like to reduce the deficit by ending corporate tax loopholes and increasing taxes on high income earners, saving the country nearly $2 trillion.
• On regulation: Both candidates want to “hold banks accountable,” and for the sake of this column, we’ll assume credit unions fall into the banking pool. The President stands behind Dodd-Frank, saying repealing the regulation would allow Wall Street to “write their own rules.” Candidate Romney wants to repeal Dodd-Frank, and replace it with “streamlined, modern regulatory framework.”
• On important credit union legislation: Your guess is as good as mine. Not surprisingly, neither candidate has made member business lending and supplemental capital part of their stump speech. Both need as many friends as possible right now, so expecting them to support us, or anyone for that matter, is too much to ask.

Neither website provides us any relevant answers to my question. A slight advantage to Romney on taxes, not for the corporate taxation statement, but rather because there is concern the credit union tax exemption could be considered a loophole. And a slight advantage to Obama on regulation, mainly because losing an independent regulator for credit unions is a cause for concern under Romney, despite burdensome Dodd-Frank.

Just for fun, I searched each candidate’s name alongside “credit union” in Google, both a web and news search. The wife of candidate Romney, Ann Romney, surfaced quite a bit. She helped cut the ribbon at a children’s hospital leave behind project supported by credit unions. (Ps. I also learned there is a Romney Credit Union in West Virginia)

The same search for the President focuses on his support of the NCUA plan to allow 1,003 credit unions to be fast tracked to receive Low Income Credit Union designation. Considering this might spell doom for MBL legislation, this is hardly a victory for all parties involved.

Having ended my exhaustive search, I have only one conclusion. If I was a credit union, I would vote for the one person with a recent personal touch point with credit unions, who has access to large scissors to cut the regulatory burden. Unfortunately, Ann Romney is not running.

Patrick Harris has been Director of Media Relations and Public Relations for the Ohio Credit Union League since October 2007. He builds relationships with broadcast, print, and trade media by bringing attention to credit union philosophy, structure, and success stories. Before joining the Credit Union Movement, Harris spent nearly a decade working for the State of Ohio in multiple public relations rolls, including stints in the Ohio General Assembly, Office of the Governor, and several state agencies. Harris holds a Masters Degree in Marketing and Communication from Franklin University. His column, Randomly Thinking, appears quarterly at CUInsight, and combines attempts at humor and insight into the Credit Union Movement. His thoughts are his own, thankfully, and for the sake of his paycheck, do not always reflect his employer.