The Enron thing was for dramatic flair . . .
I'm really hoping that there is a semantical understanding going on here.
First, the only CU's I hate are those which are banks posing as CU's, such as America First.
Second, when I speak of "fees" I am mostly referring to the interest rates charged on loans.
So far, the only major differences between banks and CU's that has been brought up here is that CU's have lower loan rates, and don't charge you any fees for Checking Accounts.
Correct?
Dealing with Checking Account fees first: If your bank charges you fees to use your checking account fees, and you pay them, you are foolish. I haven't paid fees on any of my checking accounts, ever, and there is no reason why you should have to either.
Not all banks tack fees onto their checking accounts . . . but this has already been covered by others.
Now, Usury:
Are you really saying that banks are lending money at a higher interest rate than is permitted by law? If you have any evidence of usury being practiced by a bank I strongly encourage you to report them to the Attorney General's office, where appropriate action will be taken to remedy such practices.
It is true, however, that banks do charge higher interest rates than CU's do (I would say that they charge slightly higher interest rates than CU's do, but Aristotle might have a problem with the competing interpretations of "slightly," so I'll forbear . . . the last thing I want is Aristotle being mad at me, b/c Alexander was his boy, and he'd rock my world).
The reason why banks charge higher interest rates is simple: They have to stay in business somehow. Banks don't have the luxury of paying the lower tax rates which CU's pay (even though they provide identical services). This is reflected primarily in the different interest rates CU's and banks charge.
But answer me this: If CU's are the holy grail of financial institutions, and are completely altruistic, why aren't their rates SIGNIFICANTLY better than banks rates are?
Yes, I realize that CU's have overhead to cover, but if CU's were simply covering their overhead, and not holding back profits, their rates would be substantially lower than a bank's rates, not slightly.
There are "legitimate" CU's out there . . . examples are UP&L CU, Federal Employee CU's, University CU's etc . . . These types of CU's are legitimate, in that the serve a defined segment of the population (work, trade, school, religion, etc . . .).
The exception to the rule that America First, Mountain America, and the likes, are taking advantage of is an ambiguous definition of "defined segment" in Utah.
To these CU's, a defined segment of the population is "anyone who has $50."
All Zions, and the other banks, were trying to do with their legislation a few years back was to clarify what "defined segment" meant.
They were not trying to shut down all CU's . . . just those operating as banks (i.e. serving all of the public, instead of a defined segment thereof).
But, the big CU's mounted an effective marketing campaign which pulled the wool over the public eye, and the ambiguity was not dealt with.
The big CU's were safe to continue defrauding the government.
If people want to pool their resources and form a CU, more power to them . . . but my problem arises when some enterprising people decide to form a bank, but call it a CU to take advantage of the tax exemption CU's enjoy, and I can not believe that more people aren't incensed at this practice.
Let's be completely honest, the ONLY difference between America First CU and Zions Bank is that America First doesn't pay taxes.
THAT is what makes me so mad about this. Imagine how much more money the state would have if America First would pay its fair share of taxes . . . heck, your income taxes might even go down (or the government would find a way of spending the extra money, which is the more likely scenario).
So:
Banks: Josey Wales
Large CU's: The crooked Union officer posing as good guys
Small CU's serving a legitimately defined segment of the population: the innocent people Josey Wales was traveling with.
P.S. I checked around PA for CU's similar to America First, and the likes . . .
they don't exist out here b/c "defined segment" is not ambiguously defined out here.
So, America First and Mountain View could be a "Utah thing"
Holy crap that was long
