What's NCRC's agenda?

<p>The coverage by Credit Union Times of the reaction by some consumer groups to the repeal of the Community Action Plan (CAP) shows more than a little ideological bias. For example, the National Community Reinvestment Coalition (NCRC) is characterized in a February 13 article as a collection of “empowerment groups.activist organizations and individual activists.” The article also quotes chief ABA credit union-basher Keith Leggett as saying the NCRC “represent(s) a broad spectrum.” What does all that mean? In looking at their Web site and the groups that comprise NCRC, I would say that you could fairly characterize it as politically liberal, or at least one that favors government intervention programs such as CRA. Yet your publication chooses to simply use positive terms such as “activist” and “empowerment” to describe them, which unfortunately gives them an authority and credibility that they don’t necessarily deserve. This group has a point of view, and that’s fine. So do I, and so do most credit union people who I know. We are now in the middle of a debate about how to best serve underserved communities in the aftermath of the CAP repeal, a debate that is perhaps long overdue. I happen to believe that credit unions need less, not more, in the way of government regulation as a way to better serve those people in the lower income segment of society. As a matter of fact, I think it’s more accurate to call credit unions “empowerment” groups too, given the way we reach out to give consumers a fair deal on financial services. But Credit Union Times does its readers a disservice when it informs us so little about the composition and agenda of a group that has said some pretty harsh things about the credit union movement. Fred Spencer Vice Chairman Community Credit Union Plano, Texas Board Member NACCU (National Association of Community Credit Unions)</p>