These financial institutions could have retained their tax-exempt status, but been limited to their traditional role of serving a local community or employees of the same company. Now, credit unions may expand at will, and will have a substantial advantage over banks. Local credit unions are an important institution in the United States. They offer basic and affordable depository and loan services to millions of Americans. There should not be any prohibition against people choosing to voluntarily pool their financial resources to help improve their community.
Voluntary associations are a founding principle of American life.
However, a free and unbiased marketplace is an equally important principle of American society. And one tenet of a free market is that individuals or institutions competing against one another should be treated equally. Only by retaining the traditional role of credit unions without imposing new taxes and new regulations can both of these principles be maintained. Even though Congress has ignored these principles, there is still hope that battles in the states may yet be settled properly. Permission to reprint this article in whole or in part is granted provided credit is given to the authors and to the Sutherland Institute.