Comments on: Steve Rattner, Cerberus Capital and a Less-Than-Competent Car Czar

By: jussumbody

jussumbody — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 01:28:24 +0000

Ha! You couldn’t resist the dig at Caroline K. I just clicked past the NYT columnists page and saw MoDo is giving a glowing endorsement of CK. Funny how no one even seems to pay any attention to that little bird anymore. MoDo. HoJo. Let’s play six degrees of separation with no vowels allowed but “O”.

By: jussumbody

jussumbody — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 01:02:15 +0000

Oh brother! You are beyond parody. The primaries are over. When are you going to realize Obama ain’t any better than any other DLCer, except at shoveling the platitudes.

By: ThingsComeUndone

ThingsComeUndone — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 20:41:45 +0000

We need to see Cerberus’s books, we need to tax and regulate hedge funds.

By: alank

alank — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 19:25:18 +0000

Excellent and timely blog, Jane. The alternative to this new/olde administration that the powers that be put forth was McCain. It was a Hobson choice, to be sure. It would be interesting, I expect, to explore how it came to that. But that’s the subject of another blog, I’ll be bound.

By: richardCA

richardCA — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 17:32:47 +0000

It only pay to play if you got it on tape. Otherwise, its business as usual.

By: Slothrop

Slothrop — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 17:27:07 +0000

Was that Arianna’s daughter at the International Debutant Ball in Washington 2 weeks ago — $12k per table — as photographed in the Sunday NY Times Styles section?

By: ferrarimanf355

ferrarimanf355 — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 17:15:22 +0000

No. Just… no. A real car guy is needed for the car czar, and the only car guy with the cred for such a post is Roger Penske. Any other answer is wrong.

By: leftdcin72

leftdcin72 — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 16:49:35 +0000

I know nothing about his ethics. But we cannot rely on foreign developed technology because the key to non-combustion engines is radically new battery technology which must be developed here on an emergent basis. We still have acid based 18th century batteries. And maybe you and others might think that usual market forces would lead to the development of new batteries and away from fossil fuels. But that did not happen under the last democratic administration, au contraire. We went full bore under the Clintons towards Hummers, etc. This is a national security issue and was so under the Clintons and is so now. BO as commander in chief has the opportunity to move past the oil companies and Wall Street and develop new battery tehnology for ostensible military and national security reasons. And then transfer that technology to the private sector. Rattner is into power lunches and that I am afraid is about as far as he goes.

By: Knut

Knut — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 16:31:03 +0000

If we don’t develop the cars, the Japanese and Europeans will do it for us. I think the competitive pressures here are for more fuel-efficient cars — some of which we could start making immediately if they simply sent us the machine tools. The important thing is not having someone there who actively blocks the adjustment. For that I think Rattner is probably good enough. Of course, if he’s a crook, that’s an entirely different matter.

By: redX

redX — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 16:18:50 +0000

Ambasador to Antartica Science station. Go buy ice.