Obama needs a new car czar

Why did the Obama administration name investment banker Steven Rattner as the head of auto task force knowing that New York prosecutors were investigating whether he had a role in a kickback scheme at New York state’s pension fund?

To be sure, Rattner, co-founder of the Quadrangle Group, and the firm have not been charged with a crime. The pay-to-play scam was allegedly done through intermediaries. Nonetheless, the investment banker took some actions that, as the Wall Street Journal notes, raise some troubling questions. “A Securities and Exchange Commission complaint says a `senior executive’ of Mr. Rattner’s investment firm met in 2004 with a politically connected consultant about a finder’s fee,” the paper said. “Later, the complaint says, the firm received an investment from the state pension fund and paid $1.1 million in fees. The `senior executive,’ not named in the complaint, is Mr. Rattner, according to the person familiar with the matter.” An SEC complaint alleges that a meeting was arranged between the “senior Quadrangle executive” and a brother of New York’s then -deputy comptroller to discuss acquiring the DVD distribution rights to “Chooch”, a film he produced with his brothers. Three weeks later, Quadrangle acquired the rights to the flick, and in a startling coincidence, the deputy comptroller told the senior Quadrangle executive that Quadrangle would get a $100 million investment from the pension fund, the Journal quotes the complaint as saying. I guess they call it “pay-to-play” for a reason.

The fact that the Obama administration knew about the investigation but chose to ignore it anyway is pretty disturbing. Rattner was given an important job to save the auto industry at a critical time for the economy. The last thing the American people need is a distraction like this one. For the good of everybody, Rattner should give up his fledgling career in government service. He certainly does not need the money.