Tag Archives: Neera Tanden

political news

Lesson learned from this OMB director fight?

By JOHN KANELIS / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

Neera Tanden’s nomination to become the next head of the Office of Management and Budget appears to be nearing an end.

She has zero Republican support and one key Democratic senator, Joe Manchin of West Virginia, has announced his opposition to her becoming OMB director; in a 50-50 U.S. Senate, Manchin’s defection appears to be the deal-killer.

Shelby endorses Shalanda Young for OMB director should Biden pull Tanden’s nomination (msn.com)

To be candid, this fight gives me a mild case of apoplexy.

Republicans are mounting a laughable crusade in targeting Tanden’s Twitter rants as their reason for opposing her. As if GOP politicians haven’t said or done the same thing that she has done via that social medium. My personal concern about Tanden’s nomination is her lack of budget management experience.

Having noted the Twitter nonsense, there does appear to be a lesson in this tempest. It is that politicians ought to stay the hell off Twitter, particularly if they aspire to advance their political careers or standing. Tanden has developed a notorious reputation for saying some mighty cruel things via Twitter. But … haven’t her GOP critics said or done the same thing?

Fairness requires me to point out that other Democratic politicians have self-inflicted plenty wounds over Twitter.

As we have learned to many politicians’ dismay, you cannot ever un-say these things once they’re out there. They become inscribed instantly and indelibly in the public record, even after the author of these statements “deletes” the offending tweet.

Will any of the pols who argue that Tanden’s tweets are offensive take heed of the message? Oh, probably not. Still, it is a lesson worth heeding.

Uncategorized

Tanden’s budget cred is lacking

By JOHN KANELIS / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

The media and political operatives have focused on Office of Management and Budget director nominee Neera Tanden’s stormy tirades on Twitter while they debate whether the Senate should approve her nomination.

Progressives are giving her a pass for the mean tweets she has put out there; Republicans are simply appalled, aghast and offended that she would be so angry. Actually, the GOP’s faux sensitivity is laughable on its face, given that so many Republican senators were willing to look the other way when Donald Trump was savaging his political foes with some of the most petulant tweets one can imagine coming from a president of the United States.

They are missing what I believe is the essential point over Tanden’s nomination, which is that she isn’t qualified to run OMB.

Tanden is a fierce partisan. I don’t begrudge that part of her background, per se. She also lacks any serious experience managing the kind of agency President Biden has asked of her. She has worked for progressive think tanks. Tanden has worked as an unpaid adviser  to political campaigns.

Her background is shallow. For the life of me I don’t understand what President Biden thinks what kind of experience she brings to the tough work of managing a massive federal budget.

I’ve enjoyed listening to her political commentary in recent years. She and I are on the same political page. She preaches to the proverbial choir when I listen to what she says. I just don’t know if she has the financial chops required to do the job President Biden is asking her to do.

economic news

GOP angry at OMB pick

By JOHN KANELIS / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

I feel the need to explain in some detail my concern about President-elect Biden’s decision to nominate Neera Tanden as the next director of the Office of Management and Budget.

Tanden’s selection has drawn fire from Republican U.S. senators. Why? Because she has said mean things about them on Twitter and other media outlets.

Their concern upsets my tummy. It’s not because Tanden shouldn’t have said those things about the Republican congressional caucus. I happen to agree with her. She runs a liberal think tank. Tanden is called upon often by media outlets to comment on this and/or that. She did so frequently during Donald Trump’s impeachment inquiry.

What does trouble me is that President-elect Biden pledged an effort to unify the nation after four years of Trump and after a nasty and epithet- and threat-filled presidential campaign.

Neera Tanden is precisely the kind of nominee I would hope the president-elect would avoid. He didn’t do that. He has tapped a fierce partisan to take on what should be a job left to impartial, critical fiscal analysis.

To be clear, Donald Trump also selected a fierce partisan to run OMB when he selected former South Carolina U.S. Rep. Mick Mulvaney, who then became “acting” White House chief of staff for most of the second half of Trump’s term as president.

President-elect Biden, though, pledged a different tone were he elected to the office. I am afraid Neera Tanden doesn’t meet that standard.

Do I care that she has spoken critically of the GOP? Not in the least. I do care that Joe Biden’s effort to calm the rough seas might be placed in jeopardy.