Two profound declarations from President Obama's recent State of the Union address have substantial relevance for credit unions, "If there's one thing we can all agree on it's that we hated the bank bailout," and "Let's give small business the credit they need to stay afloat." Mr. President, we couldn't agree more.

We've seen a jobs bill work its way through Congress that would help hardworking American families, as legislators castigate Wall Street for its self-serving ways. In this environment, the time is ripe for credit unions to make their mark by offering common sense solutions that can put Americans back to work. Yet we've been unable to gain traction on legislation that lessens restrictions on member business lending. Why?

After all, credit unions are one of the nation's largest membership groups with more than 90 million members, nearly two-and-a-half times the size of the influential AARP. But unlike AARP, credit unions rarely engage their rank and file membership in legislative battles, even though the bills would ultimately benefit those members.