Steve Rattner recently surrendered his position as the head of The Presidential Task Force on Automobiles (PTFOA). Seems Steve-a-rino must attend to a little mess down in The Empire State. More specifically, NY AG Andrew Cuomo suspects that Rattner’s Quadrangle Group paid a $1.1 million bribe to political consultant Hank Morris to secure megabucks from the New York Pension Board. The Treasury Department immediately spun Rattner’s resignation as a normal part of the PTFOA’s new role as Chrysler and GM’s more silent partner: “Steve’s decision to leave is the first step in a planned scaledown of the task force and there will of course be more departures in the future. It was always part of the plan to downsize once Chrysler and GM emerged from bankruptcy.” So how many other bureaucrats on the [now] 24-member PTFOA have left government employ? None. Meanwhile . . .
Rattner’s Quadrangle mob have jumped out of bed with the same group that the PTFOA allowed to maintain control of Chrysler Financial Services—despite running the Chrysler mothership into the ground without assuming ANY financial liability for the American automaker’s collapse. Yup, Cerberus.
Two years ago, Rattner’s Quadrangle group formed a company called Alpha Media to buy “lad mags” MAXIM and STUFF, and music title BLENDER from UK publishing maverick (a.k.a. “eccentric”) Ron Dennis. Alpha Media shelled-out $250 million for the three titles. Quadrangle’s “stake” in the deal: a $100 million loan from Cerberus.
As the PTFOA’s Chrysler “rescue” proved, Quadrangle and Cerberus are BFFs. (Not to mention Cerberus’ cozy relationship with The Fed, which green-lighted a last-minute lender-into-banker billion dollar bailout for Cerberus’ GMAC debacle.) But this Alpha Media deal went south faster than a migrating flock of supersonic ducks.
As the mag biz continued its downwards trajectory, Alpha Media folded Stuff into MAXIM. Blender dried-up and died. Thanks to the ongoing rise of the Internet and the sudden decline in MAXIM’s ad revenues (468 vs. 249 ad pages in the first six months of 2005 vs. 2009), the Alpha dog is on its last legs. As The Post reports, Quadrangle has now defaulted on its Alpha Media debt, leaving Cerberus holding the bag. [joke deleted]
Yes, the company that tried to strip and flip Chrysler is now running a magazine based on tits and ass. More to the point, Steve Rattner used other people’s money to take a stake in a failing, outmoded industry, just before the market tanked. Then walked away without a scratch went the deal went bad. Sound familiar?
There is an interconnected clique of financial rapists in the USofA. The financial manipulations and robbery are being exposed one after the other.
They ought shortly to be getting front yard surprises from the pitchfork and torch burning majority.
Michael Moore’s new movie about these criminals will be a cracker….
Nothing wrong with T&A, they probably thought they could parade the barely clad mag models through the shareholder meetings. When these old farts start thinking with the wrong head, even more absurd deals get funded and feinburg and Rattner make even more billions! Brilliant!
Michael Moore’s new movie about these criminals will be a cracker….
I think an even funnier movie would be to put Michael Moore into a real job, where he actually had to work for a living.
BTW, massive Mike doesn’t treat his employees very well.
The rumor in Detroit is that Rattner is an LP in at least one Cerberus fund.
RF…can you confirm?
Until the chosen ones start exhibiting some personal and professional integrity, the only things that will be exposed are their nefarious schemes dealt under the table. All things under-the-belt eventually flatten out. Blood flows back to the brain, intelligence returns and the embarrassment of their foolish behavior reveals their shallow, self-focused intentions.
Meanwhile, the American public is left to wonder if anyone is worth leading anything with any sense of propriety.
Meanwhile, the American public is left to wonder if anyone is worth leading anything with any sense of propriety.
The way that guys like these get away with shady dealing is that they buy laws which take away regulation and transparency from their businesses.
These laws are usually sold as the free market method of getting government (which should be us) off their back.
Conservatives should be happy that the “liberals” have been learning corporatism from them.
I think an even funnier movie would be to put Michael Moore into a real job, where he actually had to work for a living.
That would be hilarious.
It would be a shame for his non-thinking sheeple detractors that it probably still wouldn’t help them handle what he has to say however….
BTW, massive Mike doesn’t treat his employees very well.
I say that about my boss too, but only when I’m approached by Fox News/CNN/GOP with their cheque books in hand… You know, especially the bosses that have sacked me….
Hey RF,
This is pushing into NSFW territory again.
A bit of cheesecake is fine, let’s not get carried away again.
Thanks for listening.
Bunter