CAG First Friday to benefit Regenerate WV
November 1, 5:00pm
1500 Dixie St. Charleston, WV

This month, our event will double as a party and fundraiser for Regenerate West Virginia, a new progressive political action committee focused on Kanawha County (www.regeneratewv.org). Learn about Regenerate WV's success so far in recruiting progressive candidates. Our event will help them raise funds for candidate trainings and campaigns as well as creating a network of volunteers to Get Out the  Vote for our slate of candidates, voted on by their membership. So far, Regenerate WV has over 60 members and we hope you'll join us this First Friday to see how you and your neighbors can help build the momentum. We'll see you soon!



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Contact Your Senators To
Confirm Mel Watt in Short Order to the Federal Housing Finance Agency

Senator Joe Manchin's DC office - 1-855-275-5737
Senator Jay Rockefeller's DC office - 202-224-6472

Why now?

The time is now for new leadership at the FHFA.

The Senate is poised to vote on the nomination of Representative Mel Watt as Director of the Federal Housing Finance Authority (FHFA). It is time to stand up for families at risk of foreclosure and help put the housing market on a fair and sustainable track for the future. It is time for new leadership at FHFA.

Call your Senators and urge them to support this highly qualified nominee. Insist that they vote for cloture and bring a long-stalled nomination to a yes-or-no vote on the Senate floor.

The FHFA is a little-known agency with the potential to play a huge and incredibly positive role – once it has a leader who is willing to put the interests of homeowners ahead of the interests of Wall Street and the megabanks.

Representative Watt will bring 40 years of experience to this pivotal position. As a 20-year member of the House Financial Services Committee, he oversees housing, banking, insurance and other financial services matters, serving on key subcommittees. In addition to his public service, Mel Watt understands credit issues as a former small business owner. He is a graduate of Yale Law School who spent two decades practicing business and real-estate law in North Carolina.

 Representative Watt was one of the first Members of Congress to decry the predatory mortgage lending practices that fueled the subprime mortgage boom, eventually leading to widespread economic devastation. He rightly led the push for legislation requiring safety, soundness, and fairness to prevail over the blind rush for short-term profits.

Representative Watt has won endorsements from both Republican Senator Richard Burr (R- NC) and Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA). His many other backers include National Association of Realtors President Gary Thomas; National Association of Home Builders Chairman Rick Judson; and the NAACP; the National Fair Housing Association; and the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights.

As our nation’s chief housing regulator, Representative Watt will set the housing market on the right path to strengthen our entire economy.

Current FHFA leadership has repeatedly blocked sensible outcomes for homeowners facing foreclosure. FHFA policies have gone as far as to block people from buying back their own homes, even when they have made the best offer.

This is a critical nomination. What's at stake is the need for policy solutions that help endangered homeowners, stabilize communities, and strengthen the housing market as a whole. 

It’s time for an FHFA director who will use the agency’s power to accomplish these goals. Call your Senators now and urge them to support Representative Mel Watt and to bring his nomination to the Senate floor for a vote now.  

See ThinkProgress article: Why it matters who runs the federal housing finance agency