Business

Treasury Nominee Blasted Manchin For Not Being ‘On The Democratic Side’

• President Joe Biden’s nominee for the comptroller of the currency blasted Democratic West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin in early 2020, saying he “is supposed to be on the Democratic side” as she discussed Congress’ hesitancy to increase government spending. 
• Saule Omarova has been accused of praising Marxist policies and wrote her college thesis titled “Karl Marx’s Economic Analysis and the Theory of Revolution.”
• “People like Joe Manchin, for example – supposed to be on the Democratic side- and yet feel very uncomfortable with big-spending ideas, right?,” Omarova said. “To supplement that kind of fiscally constrained and politically constrained kind of spending, we need to make sure we have a strong public institution that can harness the existing abundant private capital and pull it in the right direction.”
• Omarova has drawn criticism from Democrats, making her nomination increasingly unlikely.

President Joe Biden’s nominee for the comptroller of the currency blasted Democratic West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin in early 2020, saying he “is supposed to be on the Democratic side” as she discussed congress’s hesitancy to increase government spending.

Saule Omarova, who had been accused of praising Marxist policies, commented during a roundtable discussion on May 20 about her proposal for a National Investment Authority. The authority would serve as a government institution independent of congress and the president directing public and private investments towards “vital infrastructure and the real economy.”

While attending Moscow State University, Omarova wrote a thesis titled “Karl Marx’s Economic Analysis and the Theory of Revolution.” Republican Pennsylvania Sen Pat Toomey, the ranking member of the Senate Banking Committee, ordered Omarova to turn her thesis over to the committee, which she still hasn’t done.

Omarova refuted any ties to Marxist ideology, telling the Financial Times, “I was in the Soviet Union, where there was no academic freedom, and this was a mandatory assigned topic. What I wrote in that paper has nothing to do with what I believe in now.”

Omarova argues that part of the need for the National Investment Authority is because members of Congress like Manchin are opposed to huge government spending programs.

“It’s fine when, if we have a strong majority in Congress as we are sure that Congress will fund whatever we need, but we can never be sure of that,” Omarova said.

“People like Joe Manchin, for example – supposed to be on the Democratic side- and yet feel very uncomfortable with big-spending ideas, right?” Omarova said. “To supplement that kind of fiscally constrained and politically constrained kind of spending, we need to make sure we have a strong public institution that can harness the existing abundant private capital and pull it in the right direction.”

Joe Biden’s nominee for the Comptroller of the Currency Saule Omarova on oil, coal and gas industries: “We want them to go bankrupt if we want to tackle climate change.”

Those industries are responsible for MILLIONS of Americans’ paychecks.pic.twitter.com/37DYwoFw8m

— Steve Guest (@SteveGuest) November 9, 2021

Omarova also said at the May round table she wants to “starve” companies of money used to invest in the oil and gas industry to combat climate change. She argued for the National Investment Authority to direct money away from the oil and gas industry and towards “clean and green” infrastructure programs.

“The way we basically get rid of those carbon financiers is we starve them of their sources of capital,” Omarova said.

Omarova was quoted in a 2019 Canadian documentary where she called the financial services sector an “asshole industry.”

“The financial services industry, in my view, and I don’t think I’m alone here, is the quintessential asshole industry,” Omarova said in the documentary titled “Assholes: A Theory.”

She was also quoted praising the Soviet Union for its lack of a “gender pay gap” in 2019.

“Until I came to the US, I couldn’t imagine that things like gender pay gap still existed in today’s world,” Omarova tweeted in 2019. “Say what you will about old USSR, there was no gender pay gap there. Markets don’t always know best.”

In a book titled “The Seven Sins of Wall Street: Big Banks, Their Washington Lackeys, and the Next Financial Crisis,” Omarova praised Marxism, saying how it altered her world views.

“Within the first year, my world changed,” Omarova said. “I became disillusioned with official Soviet ideology because of Karl Marx.”

Omarova has drawn criticism from Democrats, making her nomination increasingly unlikely.

“Some of Ms. Omarova’s past statements about the role of government in the financial system raise real concerns about her ability to impartially serve at the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, and I’m looking forward to meeting with her to discuss them,” Democratic Montana Sen. and Banking Committee member Jon Tester told Fox Business on Tuesday.

The White House told Fox Tuesday that the Administration would continue to support Omarova’s nomination.

“Saule Omarova is eminently qualified and was nominated for this role because of her lifetime of work on financial regulations, including in the private sector, in government, and as a leading academic in the field. The White House continues to strongly support her historic nomination,” a White House Official told Fox Business.

The White House and Sens. Manchin and Tester did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.