“Fuck the UAW” They Don’t Vote For Us Anyway
by digby
In “Overhaul”, his upcoming chronicle of his reign as “car czar,” Steven Rattner offers an insider’s account of the Obama administration’s rescue of the auto industry. And he pulls no punches when it comes to describing the foibles of such heavyweights as Rahm Emanuel, Tim Geithner, Larry Summers and Sheila Bair.
Though the 58-year-old financier lasted only six months, with his sudden resignation sparking speculation that a pay-for-play scandal at his old private equity firm was becoming an unhealthy distraction, Rattner has plenty of tales to tell…
Rattner depicts White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel as a force to be reckoned with who disparaged unions — once quipping “Fuck the UAW” — and who effectively supervised Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner during his first rocky months on the job by dictating his public appearances and staff picks.
According to him Goolsbee and Summers fought all the way along. And nobody likes Sheila Bair. Again.
I guess we’re supposed to be shocked that Rahm was running Geithner when all the important economic decisions were being made. But why? It was all politics from the minute they hit the ground. And they were wrong on both politics and policy.
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