Free Republic

WE need death panels. Well, maybe not death panels, exactly, but unless we start allocating health care resources more prudently — rationing, by its proper name — the exploding cost of Medicare will swamp the federal budget. But in the pantheon of toxic issues — the famous “third rails” of American politics — none stands taller than overtly acknowledging that elderly Americans are not entitled to every conceivable medical procedure or pharmaceutical. Most notably, President Obama’s estimable Affordable Care Act regrettably includes severe restrictions on any reduction in Medicare services or increase in fees to beneficiaries. In 2009, Sarah Palin’s...

It was only a little over a year ago the Bolshevik Boy Wonder's seemingly limitless supply of dumb-luck had his second term a forgone conclusion in the minds of many, including myriad RINOs and other Republican defeatists. Oddsmakers like Intrade are notoriously accurate -possessing the same eerie prescience found in Vegas football bookies- as these are people who make a living betting on such things... and Barack Obama's reelection was a 70% certainty to them at one point. Alas, while not 'wanting America to fail', I myself have long felt it a certainty that reckless Obama policies would have reality intervening...

Republicans introduce bill to eliminate presidential 'czars' By Michael O'Brien - 01/06/11 04:15 PM ET A group of House Republicans introduced a bill on Wednesday to rein in the various "czars" in the Obama administration. Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.) and 28 other House Republicans introduced legislation to do away with the informal, paid advisers President Obama has employed over the past two years. The legislation, which was introduced in the last Congress but was not allowed to advance under Democratic control, would do away with the 39 czars Obama has employed during his administration. The bill defines a czar as...

Former Obama 'car czar' settles suit with state of New YorkBy Peter Schroeder - 12/30/10 02:46 PM ET Former Obama administration "car czar" Steven Rattner has agreed to pay $10 million to settle a civil suit with the state of New York. State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo announced the agreement Thursday, in which Rattner admitted no wrongdoing, The Associated Press reported. Cuomo will be sworn in as the state's governor on Saturday. Rattner had been accused by Cuomo of participating in a kickback scheme that allowed his company to obtain $150 million in state pension fund investments in 2004 and...

The financier Steven L. Rattner (Obama's lead auto industry overhaul administrator), has agreed to pay $10 million to settle civil charges that he engaged in a kickback scheme involving New York state’s pension fund... Rattner will pay restitution to the state pension fund and will be barred from appearing in any capacity before a public pension fund within the state for five years. He did not admit any wrongdoing... Rattner accused Mr. Cuomo of “extortion” and said this conduct was “not the kind of behavior I think we want out of an attorney general or a governor.” Cuomo was infuriated...

Former Obama car czar Steven Rattner has agreed to pay $6.2 million to settle federal charges over his role in a "pay-to-play" scandal, but says he won't be "bullied" into accepting a harsher penalty from New York authorities. New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo filed two lawsuits Thursday accusing Rattner of paying illegal kickbacks to help his private equity firm land a $150 million investment from the state pension fund. Cuomo is seeking at least $26 million from Rattner, and a lifetime ban from the securities industry.

President Obama's original car czar has been sued for corruption in New York: Former Obama administration official Steven Rattner was sued by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo Thursday for his role in a pay-to-play scheme involving New York's pension fund. Rattner, the former auto czar, agreed to pay $6.2 million and to a two-year ban from associating with any investment adviser or broker-dealer to settle the SEC allegations, the SEC said Thursday. Separately, Cuomo's office filed two lawsuits against Rattner, seeking at least $26 million and an immediate lifetime ban from...

Obama Car Czar Banned from Securities Industry Thursday, 14 Oct 2010 09:31 AM Steven Rattner is near a settlement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in a probe of corruption at New York state’s pension fund, according to a person familiar with the matter. Rattner, 58, is the co-founder of Quadrangle Group LLC, a New York-based private-equity firm he has since left. The proposed agreement includes a two-year ban from the financial industry and a $6 million fine, according to the person, who declined to be identified because the talks are private. In June, the SEC proposed a three-year...

"Tim was organized and low-key, although given to occasional bursts of profanity and odd fits of giggling." —Ex-car czar Steven Rattner dishes on the Obama administration's views of Detroit during the bailouts in his upcoming book, Overhaul. No one was spared. According to Rattner, Obama asked, "Why can't [GM and Chrysler] make a Corolla?"

Puffing out his chest in Tuesday’s Washington Post, Steven Rattner, former-head of President Obama’s auto task force and architect of GM’s and Chrysler’s restructurings, asks, rhetorically: “Isn’t it time to agree that the auto rescue has been a success?” Rattner’s declaration of “Mission Accomplished”—based on one calendar quarter of mediocre financial results—is a galling display of arrogance and deception, and betrays a disturbing cluelessness about the broader costs and consequences of the government’s heavy-handed intervention. Rattner’s verdict rests on the singular consideration that “a year after the government-sponsored bankruptcies of GM and Chrysler, both patients are alive and progressing well...

New York is a fiscal basket case. One major reason: the black hole of pension fund promises made to government workers by pliant politicians always eager to serve the public employee unions. These promises are so munificent that they amount to giveaways that dwarf Democratic smear talking points such as the bridge to nowhere. Compounding the fiscal hole facing many state and local governments is the fact that the pension funds advanced by taxpayers have been invested poorly. Often these investment decisions were made by firms who were more attuned to politics than investing principles. Case in point is the...

Rattner defends rescue of automakers, says some money is gone But ex-official believes most of GM investment can be recouped By Peter Whoriskey Washington Post Staff Writer Thursday, October 22, 2009 The U.S. government's stake in General Motors is currently worth about $25 billion, or about half the amount it poured into the ailing automaker, the former chief of the Obama administration's task force on the auto industry said Wednesday. But in his most extensive remarks since leaving the post in July, Steven Rattner defended the Obama administration's decision to rescue U.S. automakers. Rattner said there's "a good chance" the...

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"...

Subject: Fw: Car czar To: This is unbelievable. This could be a scandal of epic proportions and one that makes Nixon's Watergate or Clinton's Monica Lewinsky affair pale by comparison. Why was there neither rhyme nor reason as to which dealerships of the Chrysler Corporation were to be closed? Roll the clock back to the weeks just before Chrysler declared bankruptcy. Chrysler, like GM, was in dire financial straights and federal government graciously offered to "buy the company" and keep them out of bankruptcy and "save jobs." Chrysler was, in the words of Obama and his administration, "Too big to...

The peculiar timing of Steven Rattner's departure as White House car czar has raised questions about the course of an investigation that has scrutinized his possible dealings with the New York state pension fund. The probe into pay-to-play schemes, part of a long-running and wide-ranging investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission and New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, reportedly has intensified as Cuomo's office seeks additional documents from a firm Rattner co-founded. "Obviously he's been a player" in the probe, said a source familiar with the investigation. The source confirmed to FOXNews.com that Cuomo has sought documents from Rattner's...

Bloom's relevant experience appears to be negotiating for unions with troubled companies, and so it would be useful to know his approach. Thanks to an old Time magazine collection of quotes, here it is: "Let me give you some advice. First, we are big believers in dentist chair bargaining. For those of you not familiar with this approach, it is inspired by the story of the man who walks into his dentist's office, grabs the dentist by the balls and says, 'now, let's not hurt each other.' We do have a lot to lose and we and everybody else knows...

It was just yesterday I posted on the liberal economic policies coming to a head in Montana. Democrats have historically been big on lavishing heavy regulations and taxes on the mining and steel industries, rendering them ineffective as competitors in the world market place. Dems have also enjoyed unmitigated union support, who also played a more than sufficient role in bankrupting two of the big three US auto manufacturers. Now, with the unrealistic financial demands on industries, combined with risking the taxpayers' cash on the future of GM, the Dems find themselves between a "palladium" and a hard place with...

WASHINGTON – Steven Rattner, head of the Obama administration's auto task force, is leaving that post and will be replaced by former steelworkers official Ron Bloom. The administration said Monday that Rattner decided to return to private life and his family in New York City. Rattner won praise for the job he did managing the massive restructuring of General Motors and Chrysler. But his government service came under a cloud with an investigation of an influence peddling scandal back in New York. Authorities have said that Rattner, an investment banker, was unlikely to face charges in the investigation which involved...

Reported during Your World that Steven Rattner would step down and be replaced by a member of the Auto Task Force. No print story currently available at site.

DETROIT -- A former CEO and chairman of telecommunications giant AT&T Inc. will lead General Motors Corp.'s board after the automaker emerges from bankruptcy protection, GM said Tuesday. Edward Whitacre Jr., 67, eventually will replace Kent Kresa, who will remain GM's interim chairman until the reorganized automaker emerges as a new company that's majority-owned by the U.S. government. Whitacre was chairman and chief executive of AT&T and its predecessor companies from 1990 to 2007. During his tenure, he led the company through several acquisitions and sales. Whitacre sits on the boards of Exxon Mobil Corp. and the railroad company Burlington...