<p>Looking back five years ago finds South Dakota's three-man delegation of Senators Tom Daschle (D-SD) and Tim Johnson (D-SD) and Representative John Thune (R-SD) in a televised "polite standoff" of their positions on the "banker attacks" on credit unions. "Most (members of Congress) don't see this as a choice between bankers and credit unions," said Johnson. "Though opposed to taxation of credit unions I and others in Congress are wondering whether there is some end to the SEG's building up." Once the Pandora's box of taxation was opened, Daschle suggested there were two operative criteria in deciding this issue: "Are credit unions straying from the original intent of their founding legislation and does the extensiveness of their financial services to members violate this intent. If either of these criteria appear to be over stepped", he said, "Then this pulls open the possibility that you could see taxation." Thune added that he wanted to make things "equitable and fair" but ultimately left open the possibility that credit unions might even lose their tax exemption because of the way large CUs have prospered, "it might in fact jeopardize the tax-exempt status of the smaller credit unions-and I think that would be very detrimental in South Dakota," said Thune.</p>