Rattner Leaves Auto Task Force

So, after bankrupting the two of the three U.S. auto makers, bankrupting part of their dealerships and subcontractors and suppliers, and selling off the best assets of the companies to foreign entities on the cheap, the investment banker leaves the post of the Car Czar. His boss, the President, now says "some" of the auto jobs will never return. (What was the point of using the taxpayers' money on these companies? The last I remember is the babble about "saving jobs". Ha!)

Rattner Departs as Head of U.S. Panel Overseeing GM, Chrysler (7/14/09 Bloomberg)

"Steven Rattner stepped down as head of the U.S. panel that forced General Motors Co. and Chrysler Group LLC into bankruptcy, signaling the government was easing into a new role as a passive investor in the automakers.

"His departure leaves Ron Bloom, a former union adviser and Lazard Ltd. vice president, to oversee remaining Obama administration carmaker decisions, including when to sell stakes in the two companies it bailed out with more than $75 billion in taxpayer money.

"“The administration definitely wants the perception to be out there that they’re not going to have their fingerprints in every decision,” said Clint Currie, an analyst with Concept Capital’s Washington Research Group."

Now, do you see the key word in this statement? It is "perception"; as long as the administration is "perceived" as not making every decision. It's more like some ad campaign for branded goods. Perception to make you feel good.

"“Job one for Ron Bloom is to get the government out of these equity positions in GM and Chrysler, preferably before the next election,” said auto analyst Michael Robinet of CSM Worldwide, a Northville, Michigan, consulting firm that did research for the task force. “The American public does not want to be long term owners of car companies.”"

I hope Mr. Robinet is talking about the mid-term election. The American public didn't want to be short-term owners of car companies either, but did they have a choice?

The article says Mr. Rattner has no plans to go back to his firm Quadrangle, which has been investigated by New York Attorney General for New York public pension bribery scandal.

One banker leaves (Rattner, Quadrangle), another banker steps in, albeit with a labor slant (Bloom, Lazard). Change we can believe in. (As if all we need to do is close our eyes and believe - oh look, I do see some green shoots...)

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