Less May Be Best

By. Michael Fryzel, NCUA Board Member

President Ronald Reagan once said, “The nine most terrifying words in the English language are, ‘I’m from the government and I’m here to help.’”

One can easily understand and relate to President Reagan’s assessment. No one likes to talk to, interact with or have any contact, if it can be avoided, with a government official at any level. The thought of renewing your driver’s license can cause agony and stress—increase that stress by a thousand percent if you have to answer a letter from the Internal Revenue Service.

It is unfortunate for such a perception to exist when government was created to serve the needs of the people. Sometime, somewhere, somehow, all that changed. Now government is often perceived as the people’s burden.

People no longer see government officials as leaders because most believe they have forgotten how to lead and have failed to provide solutions to the many problems we face.

Every year our citizens hear promises about addressing important issues and developing plans for a brighter future. But, as each year passes and the present becomes the future, we listen to new leaders talking about the same solutions and plans to address the issues of the past, so that we can have a brighter future. It’s a vicious cycle that never seems to end.

When I first came to NCUA, one of my initiatives was a return to a twelve-month examination cycle. For many credit unions, the agency’s increased presence and contact caused initial conflicts and concerns as many wanted to continue the path of infrequent contact. Due to the severe nature of the economic crisis, the agency needed to increase our regulatory and supervisory programs to unprecedented levels.

However, as we are now turning, very slowly, the economic crisis corner we could be looking at less. In my opinion, this less will come in the form of refocusing and looking at ways of implementing tools that can be of assistance to credit unions in their operations without sacrificing safety and soundness. Hopefully, in the coming months you will see new proposals in this area.

There was once a television game show called “Who Do You Trust?” I think if you asked most people that question they would be able to count the number of people they trust on one hand. And I am fairly certain that government leaders and officials would not be on anyone’s short list.

I believe it was President Reagan who also said that we should have only as much government as necessary. Perhaps that is the key to solving the problems we face and what is necessary to restore the faith and trust that the public finds lacking in government. Sometimes less may be best.