Steven Rattner's 'Overhaul' Pulls No Punches On Obama Administration's Auto Rescue But Minimizes His Own Troubles (EXCLUSIVE)

SCROLL DOWN for our slideshow of the book's revelations

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.

And Rattner's account is sure to attract interest within the Beltway, as one of the first books penned by an Obama administration insider.

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.

He also depicts infighting between economic advisers Larry Summers and Austan Goolsbee and describes FDIC Chair Sheila Bair as a stubborn obstacle to the work of the auto rescue team. And Rattner paints colorful portraits of auto executives such as Fiat Chairman Sergio Marchionne, who once barked to Chrysler executives, "Do you think I am fucking stupid?"

But Rattner hardly mentions the scandal -- paying $1.1 million to a placement agent to win business with powerful state pension funds -- which forced Quadrangle, the firm he cofounded, to disavow him amid a lengthy probe by federal and state investigators. Instead, he claims his innocence by stating that he has "never been accused of so much as jaywalking" in his long career and says that Senator Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) vouched for shady placement agent Hank Morris when Rattner asked for his opinion, calling him a "straight shooter".

For more detailed peeks at Rattner's book and its revelations, check out the slideshow.

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Though Rattner praised Obama's thoughtful manner when he calmly executed his decisions, the car czar notes that the president seemed to have it in for the automakers from the beginning. At his first substantive sit-down with his advisers a week after the election, when the U.S. auto industry's problems were broached, Obama quipped: "Why can't they make a Corolla?" Later, when Obama was informed of the plan to give ousted GM Chief Rick Wagoner $7.1 million, his jaw muscles tightened and Rattner writes: "Suddenly I felt that I was indeed in the presence of a community organizer..." But Rattner does emphasize that Obama didn't seem to prefer the giant autoworkers unions, either, stating that "no one in the Obama administration ever asked us to favor labor for political reasons." He does describe the sometimes political nature of the discussions of the automakers' fates, saying that White House adviser David Axelrod brought the latest polling data to a discussion about bailing out Chrysler and Rahm Emanuel identified Congressmen in whose districts large Chrysler facilities were located. Rattner also claimed that Obama supporters and donors barraged the White House with calls, emails and memos to take stronger steps, including nationalizing the big banks, to deal with the financial crisis. He says that Obama's economic team "veered dangerously close to having the government take control of the two most troubled banks, Bank of America and Citigroup." Even Summers seemed fond of the idea -- launching a project known as "USG as Shareholder." Rattner is also critical of Obama's "one president at a time" stance during the transition, stating that "if his team had linked arms with the outgoing administration, as President Bush's advisers had proposed, billions of dollars could well have been saved." He adds that personnel decisions, such as Tim Geithner and Larry Summers's appointments, should have been made faster and at not such a deliberate pace.

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Though Rattner praised Obama's thoughtful manner when he calmly executed his decisions, the car czar notes that the president seemed to have it in for the automakers from the beginning.

At his first substantive sit-down with his advisers a week after the election, when the U.S. auto industry's problems were broached, Obama quipped:

"Why can't they make a Corolla?"

Later, when Obama was informed of the plan to give ousted GM Chief Rick Wagoner $7.1 million, his jaw muscles tightened and Rattner writes: "Suddenly I felt that I was indeed in the presence of a community organizer..."

But Rattner does emphasize that Obama didn't seem to prefer the giant autoworkers unions, either, stating that "no one in the Obama administration ever asked us to favor labor for political reasons."

He does describe the sometimes political nature of the discussions of the automakers' fates, saying that White House adviser David Axelrod brought the latest polling data to a discussion about bailing out Chrysler and Rahm Emanuel identified Congressmen in whose districts large Chrysler facilities were located.

Rattner also claimed that Obama supporters and donors barraged the White House with calls, emails and memos to take stronger steps, including nationalizing the big banks, to deal with the financial crisis. He says that Obama's economic team "veered dangerously close to having the government take control of the two most troubled banks, Bank of America and Citigroup." Even Summers seemed fond of the idea -- launching a project known as "USG as Shareholder."

Rattner is also critical of Obama's "one president at a time" stance during the transition, stating that "if his team had linked arms with the outgoing administration, as President Bush's advisers had proposed, billions of dollars could well have been saved." He adds that personnel decisions, such as Tim Geithner and Larry Summers's appointments, should have been made faster and at not such a deliberate pace.

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Comments

[Vivian Norris de Montaigu]

07:21 AM on 09/15/2010

I really don't care what Steve Rattner has to say and he should never have been given any official power to say anything.

[The-JuRK]

05:30 AM on 09/14/2010

Welcome to Chicago politics, my friends.

[racetoinfinity]

06:20 AM on 09/07/2010

Rahm E. is the epitome of sell-out Democrat to the corporate plutocrats­.

[NorthWoodsVoice]

10:59 AM on 09/06/2010

"F**k the UAW"?

No, f**k Rahm, and the president who keeps him on board.

[trollingfortruth]

04:45 PM on 09/03/2010

We need to know why Obama so stubbornly refuses to completely revamp his "economic team". He is a very smart man, and surely he cannot for a moment pretend he isn't aware of the unbelievea­ble damage these cretins have wrought on his presidency and the economic health of the country. I only hope that his reasons for holding back are to just get the midterms behind him. That's acceptable­, but by mid-Novemb­er, no later, the executione­r's axe should fall. Look how long it took W to get rid of Rummy, way too long, and it was at his own detriment as a result.

[NorthWoodsVoice]

12:53 PM on 09/06/2010

Why do you assume he isn't perfectly happy with their actions? At some point we have to face the fact that this administra­tion is doing exactly what they always intended, in spite of what the indicated before and after the election.

[AnOpposingView]

11:52 AM on 09/03/2010

We need a political movement with leaders stepping forward who don't pander to the corporate elites, squander money, lie to the people, etc. I wish there was a movement like that. Maybe they could hold a rally in DC, perhaps at the Lincoln Memorial. Talk about taking responsibi­lity for your own actions and being accountabl­e to your family, friends, co-workers and neighbors.

Nah, it would never work. Guess I'm just dreaming.

[trollingfortruth]

04:51 PM on 09/03/2010

The political movement you describe and desire was promised to us unequivoca­lly during the campaign years. And countless millions of us took it in, absorbed it as truth and the dawning of a brand new day. Now, I have no idea who the man is who lives in the WH. I only know he's not the man I voted for. You are not dreaming, it could still happen one day. But only if we can break the strangle-h­old that Wall St and the Pentagon have us in -- and that includes the WH and the Congress. We're all being transforme­d into serfs again.

[thoughtsoutloud]

12:59 PM on 09/06/2010

You describe exactly how I feel. Sometimes I wonder if I was duped completely­, was this guy a Hollywood creation via Oprah?
I really thought he was the real deal, and am awfully sad at how it is unfolding.

[Mafdet]

10:33 AM on 09/03/2010

You can tell that there is a lot of conflict in Obama's ecoonomic team. There is a sharp dichotomy between the politicos and the professors on his team. Volcker is about the only one of his advisors who is balanced and pragmatic and I would love to know what event caused Obama to finally listen to him for 10 minutes. Apparently he didn't like what Volcker had to say because he's gone again.

[godsense2]

10:02 AM on 09/03/2010

how come we get censored every which way, but the article doesn't. Was the asterisk button not working on the copy editor's keyboard?

[doctordawg]

04:27 AM on 09/07/2010

Bizarre, isn't it? Can't quote the article - can't quote Rahm. IF the kids come reading, they won't learn that f-words are bad, they will learn that only powerful people actually have freedom of speech, and everyone else must behave.

Isn't that f**king great?

[Ferron]

09:28 AM on 09/03/2010

It's beyond me why any unions will support Obama the next time around. The White House is about as hostile toward unions as Fox News is. No need to wonder why republican voters are more involved and excited over this election cycle.

[flamflurm]

09:32 AM on 09/03/2010

UAW are parasites. Rahm was right on this one and on most of what he advised the Obama Admin. Problem is that they listened to him too little. That's why November will be wonderful.

[CommonSense1776]

08:08 AM on 09/03/2010

You mean the same Clinton administra­tion that put glue on computer keyboards and perform other acts of miscellane­ous juvenile vandalism.

Take two to tango dontchakno­w and the gracious way the Bush administra­tion assisted in the transition to the Obama administra­tion will give you an idea who you real culprit was in the Clinton-Bu­sh transition­. Unless of course your hate and liberal bias hopelessly blinds you.

[GeorgeBurnsWasRight]

01:49 PM on 09/03/2010

Yes, I'll agree with you that the Bush-Obama transition was handled much better than the Clinton-Bu­sh transition­.

Now about the rest of their 8-year presidenci­es, Clinton's was far preferable to Bush's.

[mekongkayak]

03:00 PM on 09/08/2010

Wow..anoth­er rumor planted and fanned (and quietly recanted or not at all)

[Avigdor]

08:04 AM on 09/03/2010

Would that all Obama's czars would be out of power and writing their memoirs. The administra­tion's treatment of the Chrysler bond-holde­rs was reprehensi­ble, and of course... illegal. One of the most frightenin­g aspects of the Left is their total disregard for the rule of law.

[GeorgeBurnsWasRight]

01:50 PM on 09/03/2010

Fascinatin­g that since they're supposedly doing so many illegal things, they rarely get challenged in court. Or maybe you're not a legal expert.

[templedancer]

11:06 PM on 09/02/2010

Who cares what the White House staff wears.....­Bush/Chene­y & Co. wore suits and they f***** the country.

[Just Type]

10:37 PM on 09/02/2010

Rattner doesn't really have anything to say. Sounds more like a script from The Office.

[El]

10:17 PM on 09/02/2010

Greed.

[Dameocrat]

08:53 PM on 09/02/2010

Progressiv­es elected a president that hates them! That is so pathetic. The two party system is like choosing between wife beaters or date rapers!