Alert: Car czar Steven “Chooch” Rattner is leaving; probes intensify
Hmmm. Maybe the SEC investigation is catching up to car czar Steven “Chooch” Rattner. He’s leaving his post to “return to private life.”
Reuters has the alert:
Steven Rattner is leaving as the day-to-day head of the U.S. autos task force that oversaw bankruptcy at General Motors Corp and Chrysler Group, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said on Monday.Steven Rattner is leaving as the day-to-day head of the U.S. autos task force that oversaw bankruptcy at General Motors Corp and Chrysler Group, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said on Monday.
Steven Rattner is leaving as the day-to-day head of the U.S. autos task force that oversaw bankruptcy at General Motors Corp and Chrysler Group, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said on Monday.
The other car czar, Ron Bloom, will take Rattner’s place.
***
Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner releases a statement:
Statement from Treasury Secretary Geithner on the Presidential Task Force on the Auto Industry
The U.S. Department of the Treasury today released the following statement from Secretary Tim Geithner as the government scales back its day-to-day involvement in the auto industry:
“With the emergence of both General Motors and Chrysler from bankruptcy, we enter a new phase of the government’s unprecedented and temporary involvement in the automotive industry.
“I am very proud of the work done by the Auto Task Force, under the leadership of Steven Rattner and Ron Bloom, to help oversee the efficient, fair and commercial restructuring of two great American companies.
“With GM’s restructuring complete, Steven Rattner, whose leadership and vision were invaluable to the Auto Task Force’s efforts, has decided to transition back to private life and his family in New York City. We are extremely grateful to Steve for his efforts in helping to strengthen GM and Chrysler, recapitalize GMAC, and support the American auto industry. I hope that he takes another opportunity to bring his unique skills to government service in the future.
“Ron Bloom will assume leadership of the Task Force’s activities as the government transitions its role away from day-to-day restructuring to monitoring this vital industry and protecting the substantial investment the American taxpayers have made in GM, Chrysler, and GMAC.
“Because of the President’s commitment to this industry and the deep sacrifices of all stakeholders, GM and Chrysler have achieved a quick restructuring, and the economy avoided the devastation that would have accompanied their liquidation. Now, with day-to-day management of these companies in the hands of the private sector, the American taxpayers have a better chance of recouping their investment in these companies.
“There is still much work ahead to ensure that GM and Chrysler re-emerge as stronger, more competitive companies. President Obama has made it perfectly clear that it is the responsibility of their private boards of directors and management teams to deliver that result. And thanks to the hard work of Steve, Ron, and the entire Auto Task Force, they have a much better chance today of rebuilding those companies and making them once again symbols of American success.”
***
The NYTimes notes that NY Democrat AG Andrew Cuomo’s investigation into Rattner’s former company, the Quandrangle Group, “has intensified in recent weeks.”
Mickey Kaus counts the theories on why Rattner bailed.
See what others have said
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Trackbacks
- Steve Ratner stepping down as auto czar – Ron Bloom to replace the rat | Fire Andrea Mitchell!
- Update: Ron Bloom to take over, Steve Rattner stepping down as Auto Czar… « Moderate in the Middle
- Rattner Out « 36 Chambers – The Legendary Journeys: Execution to the max!
- History Shows Us There Are Worse Ways For A Czar To Leave « Around The Sphere
- Nice Purse Michelle! « Jim Blazsik
- How Many Czars Is Excessive? Shadow Government: Obama Has Created 32 Czars At This Point (video) « Frugal Café Blog Zone
- “Green Jobs Czar” Appointed by Obama: Communist Van Jones « Frugal Café Blog Zone
- Obama’s Opague Oppression–Collectivist Czars Or Commissars–Terminate Tyrants Tea Parties–Join The Second American Revolution « Pronk Palisades
- Michelle Malkin: Going After Obama’s Organized Crime Culture Of Corruption–Videos « Pronk Palisades
- Obama’s Cyber Czar Hathaway Resigns… How Many Czars Do We Have Now in Obama’s Shadow Government? Still More Than Russia… « Frugal Café Blog Zone
- Chris J Marshall – Culture of Corruption
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So, that leaves about 32 to go. Czars. Wasn’t that a flu-like illness in China a couple years ago?
This has been the czariest excuse for an administration I’ve ever seen. If Obama was really as committed to saving money as he says he is, he would let all the czars go and save the taxpayers from having to pay their salaries. But that wouldn’t fit his real agenda of running this country into the ground.
The White House Czar is the one that troubles me.
You mean ShellieO…???
(If so, I totally agree…)
Rattner must have gotten a good offer to be a lobbyist for GM.
“Transition to private life?” The whole administration is barely 6 months old. Couldn’t they come up with something less lame?
Sorry to be off topic but look at this:
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/baseball/mlb/07/12/all.star.game.obama.booth/index.html?cnn=yes
Can’t that jerk stay off TV? Now I can’t even watch the All-Star Game. Why does he have to spoil everything?
I’m doing more to recapitalize GMAC than either of those two idiots – I’m paying my mortgage on time.
Ha! I just posted that same think on another thread!! And I said that I wouldn’t be watching the game after all. Yes, that man’s ego is pretty much out of control, isn’t it. For the love of God, mr president, get out of my face!!! He can’t let a single day go by. Not.one.day. Of course, he is just playing at being POTUS. He has czars to actually run the country.
But if he is not on TV he would be expected to do his job
I’m guessing that the same democrats who are lamenting Sarah Palin’s departure will of course not be bothered in the least in applying their same standards of outrage to Rattner.
{Ding, ding. Ding, ding.}
DoooWHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEooooooWHEEEEeeeeeeee.
“Car Czar, Departing”
I’d say he’s looking for cover before the whole the whole thing comes tumbling down. GM is doomed, he knows it and he’s heading for high ground. How much was he paid for 4 months of work? I hope they are holding onto that performance bonus check for a year or two.
If the union contracts weren’t appreciably changed, GM starts with a fresh balance sheet and new owners, but will still be thousands behind non-unionized US car builders like Toyota and Honda’s American plants.
Only massive taxpayer subsidies, at regular intervals, will keep GM afloat, especially if they come out with an entire product line of “Smart Car” econoboxes to make the global warmingnistas happy.
Happyscrapper #9
Yes, appointed czars that no one but him had a say in appointing who likely have huge power and answer to no one but him.
I am so terrified for this country and feel helpless. Contacting senators etc. doesn’t seem to do any good. I guess everyone in Washington knows who backs him and they are scared shoot less of him and them.
USN RET #10
Oh, I made a mistake. You are correct. The creep and all his friends should be on TV 24/7. We need to keep him and all of them out of Washington.
Look for more health care/ global rip off plugging during the new green all star game.
Well, you better look because I will not!
It isn’t just the Czars, its their entire staff and facilities. What a waste but this puts unelected and unconfirmed people reporting directly to the Messiah and those below the czars reporting to the czars. Anyone see something wrong with this entire picture? Sounds like all decisions are made at the top even though the “o” likes to pretend he is above the fray.
Did I just hear a bus starting up?
As for the new government car companies, they will be subsidized until no-one in government has the stomach to pay for them. They will NEVER actually make ANY money!
But they call Palin a narcissist.
‘Tis a shame, I like my 2007 Impala, but I will never subsidize the Obammunist UAW allies by buying another GM vehicle.
Almost Spock with a Beard kind of twisted parallel universe weird, my patriotic duty will be to buy Hondas or Toyotas. Maybe Saturns, if the product line expands to a full sized sedan.
And regarding those czars. With Holder about to set a precedent of politically investigating previous presidents, those ‘boys’ are gonna be in court rooms for decades!
“I choo-choo chooch you!”
Hmmm…I don’t see Tim Giethner or anybody else mentioning if Ron Bloom, the new “Car Czar,” has ANY experience in the car industry!
http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2009/02/16/who-is-ron-bloom/
On July 13th, 2009 at 4:59 pm, Ed Mahmoud abu al-Kahoul said:
I was just about to retire the old ‘77 LTD. Guess I’ll keep it on life support a little longer. It’s paid for, but I need a co-signer to fill the tank.
I wonder how many Faberge Eggs these people buy each month????
What a freakin joke.
I heard that Chooch was getting back with Chong.
And who could forget dear Rat-boy?
Obummer is not President of the United States. He is just a foreigner who has taken over control of our country.
I don’t even think he can be arrested and tried for treason because, doesn’t that have to be a crime by a citizen?
Maybe the best we can hope for is that he’ll be arrested as an “enemy combatant,” read his rights and sent to Bermuda.
The other car czar? How many car czars are there?
Do we have a czar, yet, over the Ministry of Silly Walks?
When Obama promised to create jobs, it didn’t occur to me that he would do so by creating czar positions for every democrat who contributed to his campaign.
When the czars all get together for meetings with the President, I have this image in my head of this great body holding hands and singing:
We won’t get to the Smart car scenario, but I agree that the legacy cost of uunion contracts (retiree healthcare and pensions), plus the job banks where laid-off employees get 90% of their pay for doing basically nothing, plus the featherbedding and work rules will still leave the domestics at a disadvantage. But this is about maintaining the workers and unions as a base for the Democrats.
The deck chairs won’t even float after this Administration.
Obama just needed him to Orchestrate the Shut down of the Auto Dealerships that contributed to the GOP…and then he could leave.
I see on Fox that Pelosi expects the healthcare bill to pass by August.
I just got the absolutely best cartoon about the healthcare proposal by email. Do any of you “smarter than me” people know how to post it here? I tried pasting it into this square on MM’s site and it won’t paste.
That’s some good, funny stuff right there. Nicely done, bc.
At least we get a little bit of good news for the day one incompetent weasel down many more to go.
Uh huh. And his replacement is a career union guy. What could go wrong?
Are ‘Czars’ unfunded mandates?
Rumor has it that the administration will soon appoint a Bathroom Czar.
And now Hillary is on some other rant about ridiculous and difficult the vetting process is. Just what we need! Relax the vetting process for Obama’s minions! OMG!!!
RON BLOOM HAS SOMETHING EVEN BETTER THAN EXPERIENCE IN THE AUTO INDUSTRY, HE’S A UNION ORGANIZER. NUFF SAID.
*Please everyone, Go Galt; Do not purchase a new GM or Chrysler product, as you will only be rewarding these looters; While they jumped on the bailout bandwagon to appease their union thugs, Ford and the transplants rolled up their sleeves and came up with a workout solution, making modifications to their business models to remain viable in the long term; GM and Chrysler will NEVER be viable as stand alone companies again, thanks mainly to government intervention; They are history!
More like Bizarro Superman weird. Not only wrong, but stupid.
I own over 500 shares of Ford. I am CERTAINLY NOT BUYING A GM OR CHRYSLER product again any time soon! Obama quite illegally stole billions from the rightful creditors in both cases and I am not about to reward any of the parties with my business.
I agree. Blah, blah, blah. Typical flowery bs.
All this wailing about union workers…What happened to the sanctity of contracts ? The far larger problem is civil service pensions at the state and local levels. Let’s keep our eyes on the ball because those pension obligations WILL require huge tax hikes.
BTW : Goldman Sachs expects to pay 20 Billion in bonus this year. Don’t get distracted by a guy getting 30k a year pension while others; load up their pensions that WE must pay.
All we are hearing about is Gov Motors and Chrysler epic fail and bailout. Not a word about Ford, who has managed to weather the storm without taxpayer bailouts or loans.
In return for their good work, they now must compete with government subsidized companies on a seriously inclined playing field. There’s incentive for ya.
*Hey Jeff, does Ron Middlefinger pay you to lick his boots, or…. wait, something gratis, forget about it; I have no quarrel with the rank and file, but the leadership thought they could suck on the teat forever as an adversary instead of understanding that the jobs belonged to the company; Now that the jobs are gone, they may be catching on to that fact; Millions of manufacturing jobs gone overseas forever thanks to the United Auto Workers; That was their Job 1.
I really don’t have a problem with bonuses, providing the corporation that gives them is not claiming a loss for tax write-off purposes. If they are in the profit zone, then more power to them.
Profits are what the whole capitalism thing is about. Smart companies re-invest, re-invent and take care of their own as well as their customers. GM? Not so much.
Jeff,
Those contracts are only good if the company that signed them stays in business- thus the bailouts/payoffs for the past election. GM is doomed and the unions can go with them. It is only fair since the union put them out of business.
Isn’t it strange that the liberals, those who believe in Darwin-adapt or die out- are obstructing the demise of the Dodo (aka UAW)? Silly liberals.
There is no reason that, in the American Government vernacular, the word “CZAR” should ever be used. Period.
We rented a Ford Fusion (May my late father forgive me!) for our vacation, and, I hate to say it, I’m impressed! It runs well, rides like a European sports sedan, handles like a dream, and doesn’t have government bail-out money propping it up. I keep getting stuff from GM because I bought a Chevy Colorado last year, and I keep getting stuff from Chrysler even though my PT Cruiser is 7 years old with over 108,000 miles on it.
When it’s time to replace the Cruiser, I think I’ll look seriously at Fords for the first time in thirty years.
Hope is not a plan; not all change is good. WE are the civilian national security force! Ford is an AMERICAN car company not a government car company. The resistance is here; the resistance is now! RESIST!!!!!!!
ECS
This certainly has the earmarks of a firing. Could it be that Rattner is taking the fall for the apparently partisan closing of thousands of GM and Chrysler dealerships which just happened to be owned by Republican campaign contributors?
It was reported just a few days ago that the dealerships were going to be restored. Maybe the poop is about to hit the fan on this scandal and they’re getting their ducks in order.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gBPaHA8wyvhZsKWPW8Uxp30QpfqgD99A16502