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   From: ForTheOIL@BushiesNews.net   
      
   Auto Task Force Shocked By State Of GM, Chrysler   
   Steven Rattner Gives First-Person Account Of Operations   
   KEN THOMAS, Associated Press Writer   
   Posted: 3:00 am PDT October 21, 2009Updated: 12:32 pm PDT October 21, 2009   
      
   WASHINGTON -- Shockingly poor financial management at General Motors and   
   Chrysler weakened their case for a federal bailout, but officials feared   
   letting them collapse, the former head of a government auto task force said   
   Wednesday.   
      
   In a first-person account posted on Fortune magazine's Web site and in a   
   Brookings Institution speech, Steven Rattner said he was alarmed by the   
   "stunningly poor management" at the Detroit companies and said GM had   
   "perhaps the weakest finance operation any of us had ever seen in a major   
   company."   
      
   GM's board of directors was "utterly docile in the face of mounting evidence   
   of a looming disaster" and former GM chairman and chief executive Rick   
   Wagoner set a tone of "friendly arrogance" that permeated the company,   
   Rattner wrote.   
      
   "Certainly Rick and his team seemed to believe that virtually all of their   
   problems could be laid at the feet of some combination of the financial   
   crisis, oil prices, the yen-dollar exchange rate and the UAW," Rattner   
   wrote.   
      
   Rattner described his six-month stint leading the Obama administration's   
   auto task force, which pushed GM and Chrysler into quick bankruptcies last   
   summer with the help of billions of dollars in federal aid. The task force   
   won concessions from the union, suppliers, bondholders and dealers, and the   
   U.S. government now owns nearly 61 percent of GM and 8 percent of Chrysler.   
      
   Rattner said at the National Press Club that he, along with Treasury   
   Secretary Tim Geithner and White House economic adviser Larry Summers,   
   "hated the idea of the U.S. government owning equity in these companies" but   
   they concluded the government needed to protect taxpayers.   
      
   "It was frustrating that many commentators were suggesting that the   
   government stay on the sidelines and let the companies fend for themselves,"   
   Rattner said. "With financial markets still frozen, both would have   
   unquestionably run out of cash quickly, slid into bankruptcy, closed their   
   doors and liquidated."   
      
   Rattner said the loss of the companies could have severely harmed the   
   economy, costing "more than a million jobs in the short run." He said their   
   failure also would have dramatically deepened and prolonged the recession   
   and would have pushed unemployment rates in several states "above 20   
   percent."   
      
   GM said in a statement that it was "a new company with a strong balance   
   sheet, less debt and a fresh product lineup that is making consumers take   
   notice. ... Looking back doesn't help us with the important work we have in   
   front of us. We are grateful for the second chance our nation's support has   
   given us, and we are confident we will succeed."   
      
   Rattner said the task force was divided on whether to save Chrysler. The   
   automaker was poorly run during its alignment with Daimler AG, and "larded   
   up with debt, hollowed out by years of mismanagement, Chrysler under   
   (private equity firm) Cerberus never had a chance," he added.   
      
   The task force determined that Chrysler could not survive without a   
   corporate partner and turned to Italy's Fiat Group SpA. Fiat took control of   
   Chrysler after it emerged from bankruptcy protection in June and received a   
   20 percent stake in the company, with the opportunity to take on 35 percent.   
      
   As for GM, Rattner said Wagoner told him in mid-March that he wanted to   
   remain at the company but was willing to step down to help GM. Rattner said   
   that Fritz Henderson, who succeeded Wagoner as chief executive, "conveyed   
   more energy and openness to change."   
      
   Rattner asked Wagoner to step aside on March 27 and Wagoner agreed,   
   supporting their plan to make Henderson the new CEO. In an "awkward   
   conversation," Rattner said that Wagoner had asked whether the   
   administration planned to fire UAW President Ron Gettelfinger.   
      
   "I'm not in charge of firing Ron Gettelfinger," Rattner replied.   
      
   Rattner has faced his own scrutiny. His former investment firm, Quadrangle   
   Group, paid more than $1 million to a New York political consultant indicted   
   in a public corruption probe in New York.   
      
   Rattner wrote that he grappled with "the New York attorney general's   
   investigation of my former firm, Quadrangle Group, and me about our actions   
   in connection with an investment from the state pension fund." He did not   
   elaborate.   
   Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material   
   may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.   
      
   Why didn't Bush's Sec. of Labor Czar, Elaine Chao, report these findings?   
   OH YEAH, BUSH WAS ON VACATION FOR 8 YEARS!!!  Don't critisize repugs - it's   
   TREASON!   
      
   Bush Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao Stumps For Hubby On Taxpayer Dime ....   
   She's done for labor what Bush did for Iraq!   
      
   http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/03/13/bush-secretary-stumps-for_n_91358.html   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)