A Great Betrayal

Monday, July 13, 2009
'Car Czar' Steven Rattner Stepping Down
Dunstan Prial FOXBusiness
President Barack Obama’s auto czar Steven Rattner is stepping down.
The U.S. Treasury Department made the announcement Monday, saying Rattner was stepping aside now that both General Motors (GMGMQ: undefined, undefined, undefined%) and Chrysler have completed their historic bankruptcy restructurings.
“With the emergence of both General Motors and Chrysler from bankruptcy, we enter a new phase of the government’s unprecedented and temporary (really?) involvement in the automotive industry,” Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said in a statement. “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.”
The statement said Rattner has decided to “transition back to private life and his family in New York City.” Bloom, a former Wall Street banker and United Steelworkers union official, will take over as head of the Task Force, monitoring the progress of the newly restructured GM and Chrysler. (Hmmm...a former Wall Street banker and union executive is now in charge of the government owned auto companies?) Both companies are now majority-owned by taxpayers and owe the government billions of dollars for bailout funds that helped keep them from going out of business. The third major U.S. auto maker, Ford Motor (F: 5.71, 0.03, 0.53%), was able to avoid going through the bankruptcy process in recent months.
Rattner is a former Wall Street investment banker and founder of private equity firm Quadrangle Group. It is likely he will return to that profession.
Monday, July 13, 2009
Ron Bloom To Become Head Of Auto Task Force
WASHINGTON -- Ron Bloom will assume the leadership of the Presidential task force on the auto industry, according to statement from Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner on Monday. Bloom, a senior advisor to the task force, takes the position "as the government transitions away from its day-to-day restructuring" of the government's investment in General Motors, Chrysler and auto lender GMAC LLC. Steven Rattner, the Obama' Administration's lead advisor on the auto task force, is transitioning back to private life, according to the release. "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," Geithner said in the statement.
Copyright © 2009 MarketWatch, Inc.
So let me summarize –
The government bails out failing financial institutions at the expense of taxpayers
The government bails out automakers that cannot compete in a world market, largely due to ridiculous union contracts
The government puts a former Wall Street guru and union exec in charge of newly bailed out car companies
Is anyone else feeling a little betrayed here?