President Biden’s controversial choice to be the Treasury Department’s currency comptroller is an educated, USSR-born professor who recently advocated an end to banking “as we know it” by shifting Americans to the gender payroll. the former Soviet Union. The absence of difference is praised. Funding from private banks to the Federal Reserve.
Cornell University law professor Soule Omarova was called upon by the president on September 23 to oversee the nation’s largest banks and federal savings associations, with the White House calling him “on regulatory matters. systemic risk “. One of the greatest academic experts ”. and structural trends in financial markets. “
If approved, Omarova would be the first woman and non-white person to hold the post.
Her appointment has drawn criticism from Republicans, who say she seeks to “fundamentally change the basic architecture and dynamics of modern finance” – and reportedly asked Janet Yellen, Biden’s treasury secretary, at his post. Worried about taking
In an early 2021 article titled “The People’s Ledger,” Omarova argued for making private banks “non-depository lenders”, transforming banking “as we know it”.
“Banks, in other words, will no longer be ‘special’,” he wrote, arguing for the separation of their lending function from their monetary function.
“Once banks lose their ‘special’ status and their access to government subsidies, they will inevitably lose their appeal as potential buyout targets for other financial institutions,” he said.
According to the Daily Mail, Omarova echoed those sentiments in the 2019 documentary film “A ** holes: A Theory”, where she called Wall Street culture the “quintessential hole industry.”
Immediately after his appointment, Senator Pat Tomey (R-PA), a leading member of the Senate Banking Committee, said he had “serious objections to his appointment”.
“MS. Omarova calls for ‘fundamentally reshaping the basic architecture and dynamics of modern finance’, including the nationalization of retail banking and the allocation of credit to the Federal Reserve,” he said. in a press release.
“He also pleaded for the ‘effective end'[ing] The bank as we know it. In light of these and other far-left opinions, I have serious objections to his appointment. “
Patrick McHenry (R-NC), a leading member of the House Financial Services Committee, also shared the reservation, the appointment asking Biden to “keep his radical base”.
“President Biden once again silences his hard base by appointing Saul Omarova to head the OCC,” McHenry said. “I am concerned that Professor Omarova is prioritizing a progressive social agenda over the main mission of the OCC – monitoring and managing risks in our financial system.”
“Our financial regulators should focus on pro-growth policies that spur innovation to build a strong and inclusive economic recovery, rather than on Democrats’ obsession with vague social goals.”
Yellen was also skeptical of the appointment, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Omarova has been criticized in the past for praising and supporting the ideals of the Soviet Union.
In 2019, she posted on Twitter in favor of “the former USSR”, where “there was no gender pay gap”. Following criticism for it, he tried to limit the damage, but failed to completely condemn the Soviet Union.
“I never claimed that women and men were treated absolutely equally in all aspects of Soviet life. But people’s salaries were determined (by the state) regardless of gender. And very liberal towards all women. You have obtained maternity benefits. Both things are still a pipe dream in our society! she wrote.
Omarova was born in Kazakhstan in the former Soviet Union and moved to the United States in 1991 to pursue her doctorate. at the University of Wisconsin.
Despite criticism, the professor gained support, in particular from Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Who called the appointment “tremendous news.”
“She is an excellent choice to oversee and regulate the activities of our nation’s largest banks and I have no doubt that she will be a fearless champion for consumers,” Warren said in a Facebook statement.
Senate Banking Committee Chairman Senator Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) praised the professor’s experience as a “policy maker, in the private sector and academia” and urged his colleagues to support the appointment. .
“His experience as a policy maker in the private sector and in academia will allow him to work with stakeholders in our financial system to ensure that the economy works for all, and Wall Street and others are protecting our economic recovery.” risky activities of bad actors, ”said Brown.
“I call on my colleagues at the Banking and Housing Commission to support this historic candidate in a critical position for our economy. “
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