Sanders confronts Tanden over past 'vicious attacks'

[Donkees]

Link to tweet

Once Sanders dispensed with the tough talk at the hearing’s opening, he moved to show unity between progressives and the Biden administration, asking Tanden if she supporters a litany of progressive goals such as raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour, lowering the Medicare eligibility age to 60, making public college tuition free for low-income earners, providing free universal pre-K and mandating 12 weeks of paid family and medical leave.

Tanden answered each point in the affirmative

https://thehill.com/policy/finance/538209-sanders-confronts-biden-nominee-tanden-over-past-criticism

Senate Budget Committee considers nomination of Neera Tanden, Biden's pick to lead OMB

Feb 10,2021

[Peregrine Took]

1. Thanks for posting. I'm glad he confronted her. n/t

[Me.]

31. Wny?

[Blue_true]

42. I watched the entire hearing.

It was not a confrontation between Senator Sanders and Neera. Senator Sanders pointed out what he thought was sharp language from Neera and gave her a chance to answer, which she did excellently, IMO.

We all get passionate about issues and sometimes we use the wrong language, often out of frustration. But that doesn’t make us bad people.

[Cha]

5. Ha.. as if!

[OnDoutside]

6. That's a good point, and using a dominant position to browbeat

a woman. Not very classy, but of course red meat to his base. And a Democrat.

[LizBeth]

7. +1, exactly.

[SharonClark]

8. And an apology for hiring vicious Nina Turner.

[betsuni]

10. Yup. "Enough is enough."

[Hortensis]

13. Hah! AND the Democratic Party. I'll confirm right now that I have never

received his apology, personally or even generally, for contemptibly and dishonestly calling me a Republican almost every time he opened his mouth, or trying to overset an election I voted in in good faith. He'd do best to let the putrid rathole of this subject and its value to Trump and Repub/Putin remain boarded over.

[LizBeth]

16. Absolutely and the Democratic Party and all the base that have supported the DP. Also using language

now making it sound like he is directing Biden or at the very least, co Presidenting with Biden. That is getting old, fast.

[Hortensis]

18. :) No more excuse for those who believe him now and before

than for those who believe Trump's lies. Ultimately it's the responsibility of the individual. We Democrats, because it is our job, have to protect freedom of speech while figuring out how protect society from insidious demagoguery in this era of mass communications/brain-fucking.

[Hortensis]

19. :) Yeah. No excuse for those who choose to believe proven liars,

now and before, and including the trumpists of course. Beginning and end, it's the responsibility of the individual.

We Democrats, because who else if not us?, have to protect freedom of speech, freedom of religion (which includes political cultism), and "pursuit of happiness" while also figuring out how to also protect society from insidious demagoguery in this era of mass communications/brain-fucking.

[JI7]

39. Mentioning himself with Biden and leaving out Kamala Harris

[NurseJackie]

15. Thank you. Don't hold your breath.

[demmiblue]

3. Didn't she assault someone?

This is my one disappointment regarding the nominations.

Link to tweet

[Donkees]

9. Seems she punched Faiz Shakir

[demmiblue]

12. She doesn't deserve an appointment in the Biden administration.

Rahm 2.0?

[George II]

34. Yes she does. If President Biden wants her to head up OMB, she deserves that appointment...

What does Rahm (Emmanuel) have to do with this? C'mon, why trash Biden, Tanden, and ANOTHER Democrat who isn't even part of this discussion or issue?

[George II]

32. No she didn't. Please get your facts straight. Thanks.

[George II]

36. No she didn't.

[Cha]

4. President Biden knows what he's doing

choosing Neera Tanden for OMB.

[BlueLucy]

11. In my opinion..

She was responding to viciousness.

[Beringia]

14. But she didn't say that. She said she was sorry, no reason given for why she did it

[BlueLucy]

20. She took the high road.

[Beringia]

21. If you apologize, half of the apology is saying why you are sorry, not just that you are sorry

Dodges any responsibility.

[Blue_true]

43. I agree, she could have done a better job of explaining why she was

sorry about some of her past words, especially when Senator Kennedy was after her. But it was clear that she plans to let data and facts drive her work, and that she would no longer be a partisan advocate, but a government official responsible for a far reaching Department. I liked her overall performance, she clearly knows what she is walking into if approved to head the OMB.

[Cha]

27. Yes she did! I love her!

[George II]

33. She was at a committee hearing overseeing her ultimate confirmation.

[Cha]

26. Neera was.. and she was good

at it!

I like her & as I said.. more Importantly so does President Biden.

She fights for Democracy!

[Beringia]

17. OOOhhhh Weeee, Yay Sanders in Charge

[betsuni]

22. Sanders: "I am concerned about the level of corporate donations that the Center

for American Progress has received under your leadership."

Again. Why does Sanders think legal donations by corporations are corrupting to Democrats (only heard him worried about Democrats being corrupted). Ben & Jerry's is owned by an international corporation. Are their donations corrupting? Costco's? Why is it assumed no corporations want progressive policies? Don't many Americans work for corporations? When corporations give donations to the arts or athletics, etc., are the opera and baseball corrupted too?

[George II]

24. Right. Instead of being "concerned" (where have we heard that before?) about Americans....

....operating fully within the law, perhaps he should do something about modifying those laws?

I'm glad you pointed out that Ben & Jerry's was sold and is now owned by a multi-BILLION dollar corporation based in the UK (Unilever) At most of his rallies they provided free ice cream which, I hope, was reported as "in kind contributions". Both Ben and Jerry also contributed to his campaigns and those of his progressive friends.

By the way, both Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield each have net worths of hundreds of millions of dollars.

[betsuni]

35. If you sell your business to Unilever or write a best-selling book and sell it on Amazon,

you can be a millionaire, too! But magically, no corruption.

[George II]

23. Tanden's "vicious attacks on progressives" were in response to similarly vicious attacks BY....

....those same "progressives" - Briahna Joy Gray, David Sirota, Cornel West, Nina Turner, Susan Sarandon, and several others.

Sadly none of them were similarly publicly confronted by Sanders.

As for the policy questions, each and every one of them have already been proposed by Tanden's imminent boss, President Joe Biden.

In fact, Biden's proposal for a $15 minimum wage is for it to happen by 2025, a year before Sanders' own proposal of $15 by 2026.

[Cha]

25. Exactly! Neera stood up for

Reality!

I like her and more importantly so does President Biden!

[still_one]

41. +++

[Gothmog]

28. I was at the 2016 national convention

I have trouble taking sanders attacks on Neera Tanden seriously

[Cha]

29. No kidding!

[Me.]

30. He Is Finally In A Position Of Power And Could Do Some REal Good

and this is his focus, smacking around a woman who has done a lot of good which is the very reason she's been nominated.

[George II]

38. I honestly don't understand why a personal beef with a person is allowed to enter....

...into a confirmation hearing.

[Me.]

45. Nor I

but am I surprised?

[Malmsy]

50. But Bernie said specifically that it wasn't about being hurt.

"And as you know, it's not a matter of being hurt, we're all big boys - and I don't see too many girls here - but big boys, who get attacked all the time. "

[George II]

54. I was shocked when I heard him say that yesterday: "I don't see too many girls here." ...

His misogynistic side always seems to show up eventually.

[NurseJackie]

62. You are not alone in that observation. Many agree with you.

[George II]

37. Neera Tanden is a Democrat, and has been nominated to head OMB by a DEMOCRATIC President....

...it's time for the attacks on her to stop.

We should talk about policy, not personality.

"Let him who is without sin cast the first stone!"

[Cha]

40. Precisely! Polices Not

personalities!

Neera is a & a Good Standing Democrat

She stands up for Democracy!

[NurseJackie]

52. Your last sentence says it all. Thank you... it needed to be said.

[SlogginThroughIt]

44. I honestly don't know who to back on this one.

How do you define “Support Democrats” in this one?

[GulfCoast66]

46. Pretty simple in my mind. Support the choice of President Joe Biden.

She criticized someone who hired people in high positions who did not support the Democratic nominee. That’s legit in my mind. Many on DU did the same. Including me.

But honorable people can disagree.

[Cha]

47. TY.. Exactly!. Neera did nothing

wrong, imo.::

[SlogginThroughIt]

49. It should be that way.

I agree.

[George II]

51. Neera Tanden: Democrat. Nominated by President Joe Biden: Democrat. Yes, very simple indeed.

[George II]

48. Inasmuch as Neera Tanden's "vicious attacks" were in response to similar "vicious attacks"....

....by others, including Sanders' campaign co-chair (Nina Turner), his national press secretary (Briahna Joy Gray), his campaign speech writer (David Sirota) and others, I know who I would back.

Toss in the fact that our PRESIDENT, Joe Biden, chose Tanden to be his head of OMB, the obvious choice of who to back is the woman of color, Neera Tanden.

As far as I'm concerned, case closed.

[Tom Rinaldo]

53. She once called him Crazy. He noted it. He asked her about policies. She answered

They agreed on what is needed for our nation. He (I predict) will vote to confirm her. That is how lingering tensions are deescalated and consigned to the past, while unity moves forward. No more fuel for 2016 fires please. We all have work to do to support the Biden Administration.

[George II]

55. Yes, de-escalated AFTER he brought it up yesterday. Look up some tweets from his speechwriter...

...David Sirota*. That is, if you can find any from that era. Hours after being hired in early 2019 by the campaign he deleted more than 20,000 tweets.

Many of Tanden's tweets were in response to those nasty attacks from Sirota, Gray, and Turner, she rarely if ever instigated them. At least none of those three will be appearing at any nomination hearings and publicly asked to answer for their past comments.

Quite honestly, it was a subject that never had to be brought up at yesterday's hearing - it served no purpose.

*BTW, during yesterday's hearing and for hours afterward Sirota once again went on the attack on Twitter.

Here's one example, the first of his tweets that I read this morning:

[fishwax]

56. seems like a legit issue, well framed by Bernie and well handled by Neera Tanden

[George II]

57. What's "legit" about it? What does something that happened four years ago, in response...

...to equally "vicious" attacks on on her, have to do with her confirmation as head of the OMB?

[fishwax]

58. she has a history of heightened rhetoric towards people she'll have to work with in the position

so it's natural and legitimate that this would come up while those people interview her as they deliberate whether or not to affirm the appointment.

We've known for weeks this line of questioning was coming. She started cleaning up her twitter feed months ago in anticipation of it. I doubt she's Sanders' favorite nominee, but it seems likely that she'll pass the committee and the senate. Sanders addressed it and gave her the opportunity to effectively frame her response in anticipation of the republicans on the committee who will be much less likely to deal with the issue in good faith.

[George II]

59. Some of people she'll have to work with in the position ALSO have a history....

... of heightened rehetoric toward her. They haven't been forced to publicly renounce their comments. And Sanders knows full well who many of those people are.

Sanders had an opportunity to interview her in private, as all committee members do. He could have addressed it then, not at the hearing. Her comments (and those directed toward her that prompted them) were not in an official capacity and were about private citizens.

It's really not important if she's Sanders' favorite nominee, she's PRESIDENT Joe Biden's favorite nominee. That's all that really matters to me and should be all that matters to everyone else.

As for framing her response, she is already being bashed on Twitter by some of the same people who instigated the trash talk in the first place, claiming her responses were insufficient.

[fishwax]

60. Sure. But the point of the meeting was to review her for her appointment

Sanders had an opportunity to interview her in private, as all committee members do. He could have addressed it then, not at the hearing. Her comments (and those directed toward her that prompted them) were not in an official capacity and were about private citizens.

.

If he interviewed her in private, I'm sure he brought it up then too, and I'm sure they both knew full well it would come out in the public hearing too. Because neither is exactly new to this process. It's not as though the issue wasn't going to come up in the hearing if Bernie didn't mention it. Nothing would have been gained by him not mentioning it. He was able to toss it to her relatively gently in a way that helped her build her message. That's generally how it works.

It's really not important if she's Sanders' favorite nominee, she's PRESIDENT Joe Biden's favorite nominee. That's all that really matters to me and should be all that matters to everyone else.

If that were all that mattered than there wouldn't even need to be a process in the senate. But that's not how it works.

My point, though, in pointing out that she's likely not Bernie's favorite nominee, wasn't to offer any justification of him impeding her approval. She will likely get approved. If she gets approved, it will be with Bernie's help. This is all just part of that. She's probably not his favorite of Joe's picks, but he's putting that aside to help the team. (Should Bernie vote against her, I'll readily acknowledge my mistake about this.) I know there are some people who are never going to accept Bernie on the team, but I'm glad Joe's not one of them.

[Autumn]

61. He will vote to confirm her because she's Joe's pick. I'm happy he called her out.

[George II]

63. And yet Turner, Sirota, Gray, West, and Sarandon went unmentioned.

[Autumn]

64. So? Were any of them at a hearing to be confirmed? I'll answer that. Nope, they weren't. nt

[George II]

65. They were the ones who attacked Neera Tanden (who was a private citizen at the time)....

.... to which she responded with her tweets.

Except for Sarandon, the others worked for the campaign when they attacked Neera Tanden.

I guess "what's good for the goose is good for the gander" doesn't apply.

[Autumn]

66. Yeah? Like you said, she and Sarandon are both private citizens who were attacked.

Get back to me when you care about both. I see no need to worry about it.

[George II]

67. So you're ignoring what Turner, Sirota, and Gray did? "Get back to me"....

....when you condemn them for attacking Tanden.

Again, yes, Tanden "attacked" Sarandon on Twitter, only after Sarandon attacked her on Twitter.

[Autumn]

68. Yeah I am ignoring what they did. They are not the OP subject I didn't condemn them George,

I commented on Bernie and Tanden. Like you said, they were campaign workers. Turner, Sirota, Gray, West, and Sarandon were not the ones being confirmed at a hearing so what they said that concerned you so much during a campaign is irreverent to me. It may matter to you, it doesn't matter to me.

[George II]

70. The subject of the OP is what Tanden did, and many are ignoring the underlying REASON....

....why she did it, Autumn. She was taunted and prodded by those I mentioned, and she returned the "fire" in kind. Yet only SHE is being castigated, and by the person who enabled Turner, Sirota, and Gray.

Yes, Tanden is being confirmed, but matters such as this should have been handled privately, not in public. Either that or Tanden should have been permitted to explain why she did what she did. That didn't happen. In fact the chairman interrupted many of her responses to questions.

I see there's a double standard in place here.

Enjoy your day, I'm going to watch the Trial now.

[Autumn]

72. I don't care about that George. I am not going down a vortex of outrage about

people that aren't the subject of the OP

[George II]

73. I'm well aware that you "don't care about that George [II]", Autu....

....and that's the problem.

Unfortunately the means justify the end.

[Autumn]

74. Not my circus, not my monkeys. As I said, Turner, Sirota, Gray, West, and Sarandon

were not being vetted in a hearing for the Office of Management and Budget. Personally I feel there were better choices but Biden chose her and it's his choice to make so it is what it is.

[George II]

75. For one final time, Neera Tanden was responding IN KIND to the vicious attacks by....

....Turner, Sirota, Gray and West. She didn't instigate it, she responded.

And she got called out in public by a Senator for responding to HIS EMPLOYEES.

Let's see, three of the four people involved (Turner, Gray, and Tanden) are people of color and you make reference to monkeys? Whew, smdh.

[NurseJackie]

78. Wow.

[Nanjeanne]

69. I wouldn't support Tanden and it has nothing to do with Sanders - but because

the CAP under her leadership relies so heavily on Wall Street and corporate donors, her support of reducing SS, her support of chained CPI, her support of cutting Medicare and Medicaid, union busting of Think Progress, and her poor management style including bullying in general.

But I think Sanders will swallow his objections and vote her in as he is doing everything he can to support Biden's presidency and his picks for positions. She wouldn't be my choice . . . but I don't get a vote!

[BannonsLiver]

71. From the guy who hired Nina Turner and David Sirota.

Irony is officially dead.

[MrsCoffee]

76. If anyfuckingbody needs to do some fucking reflecting....

It's Bernie Sanders.

Hypocritical doesn't even begin to describe this shit.