George Will Notes 121 Democrats are Economic Terrorists

Fomrer White House car czar Steven Rattner, who agreed to a $10 million settlement in a kickback scheme, recently called Republicans economic terrorists. Today on This Week he was gangster-slapped by George Will.

Later Will reminded Rattner that he also compared the Tea Party to suicide bombers, which Rattner denied. Although ABC’s Cokie Roberts settled that mini-debate by confirming “terrorists are suicide bombers.” Not to mention the fact that Rattner’s exact words were that members of the Tea Party were essentially strapping dynamite to their chest as a negotiation strategy. Yet, if the Tea Party members who opposed raising the debt ceiling were “terrorists,” since that was the only way possible to avoid default, then Will had a shocking revelation for Rattner regarding who voted for eventual debt deal that passed:

“You do know that 95 House Democrats voted against raising the debt ceiling as compared to only 66 House Republicans. You do know that 26 Democratic Senators voted against raising the debt ceiling?”

That’s right, by Rattner’s logic then, it’s actually the Democratic party that has more “terrorists” amongst their ranks since more of them voted against raising the debt ceiling at the last crucial moment. What should be embarrassing for Rattner and others who have resorted to such “violent rhetoric” to describe the peaceful and persistent views of the Tea Party is that it’s become clear they would prefer to belittle a viewpoint popular with many, rather than attempt to convince more Americans of the merits of their philosophy.

Shocker: Former Obama Car Czar is a Criminal

The fact this thug is the former car czar is casually mentioned in the last paragraph of the story.

Andrew M. Cuomo, the attorney general of New York, on Thursday sued Steven L. Rattner over his role in kickbacks to secure investment business from the New York State pension fund.

The attorney general filed two lawsuits, seeking at least $26 million from Mr. Rattner and a lifetime ban from the securities industry in New York. Mr. Rattner was also added to a forfeiture action against Hank Morris, a top adviser to a former New York State comptroller, Alan G. Hevesi.
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The lawsuits came as the Securities and Exchange Commission announced a settlement with Mr. Rattner in which he agreed to pay $6.2 million in disgorgement and penalties. He will also be banned from “associating with any investment adviser or broker dealer” for two years.

David Rosenfeld, associate director of the S.E.C.’s New York Regional Office, said, “Rattner delivered special favors and conducted sham transactions that corrupted the Retirement Fund’s investment process.”

Mr. Rattner, the former auto czar, had appeared on CNBC earlier on Thursday to talk about the General Motors’ I.P.O.

The WSJ is more honest in its reporting.

Former Obama administration official Steven Rattner was sued by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo on Thursday for his role in a pay-to-play scheme involving New York's pension fund.

Mr. Rattner agreed to pay $6.2 million and to a two-year ban from associating with any investment advisor or broker-dealer to settle the SEC allegations, the SEC said Thursday.

Separately, Mr. Cuomo's office filed two lawsuits against Mr. Rattner, seeking at least $26 million from Mr. Rattner and an immediate lifetime ban from the securities industry.

When will Rattner be facing criminal charges?

'There's An Appearance of Pay-to-Play'

Yes, there's an appearance of pay-to-play. There's also an appearance of rank corruption within Democratic circles, especially the people hanging around Barack Obama. Thank goodness we have transparency and openness.

New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson's campaigns and political-action committees received at least $102,300 from brokers hired by money managers seeking to handle $11.7 billion of state trust funds, campaign-finance records show.

In addition to those donations, Richardson, a Democrat who ran for president in 2008, received at least $95,000 from the state trusts' outside money managers.

That cash included $20,000 from Quadrangle Group LLC founder Steven Rattner and $50,381 from Leo Hindery, founder of InterMedia Advisors LLC, according to New Mexico and federal campaign-finance records.

Rattner, who directs the Obama administration's auto-industry task force, and Hindery have donated $3.8 million to Democratic candidates and political-action committees, compared with $110,200 to Republicans.

"There's an appearance of pay-to-play," said Steven Robert Allen, executive director of Common Cause New Mexico, a public-interest organization.

"Whether there's a quid pro quo or not, it raises questions in people's minds, and that's not good for a democracy to have those sorts of questions being raised about the most powerful elected official in our state."

Of course, Rattner has his own issues to deal with, but apparently he's protected.

Instapundit links. Thanks!

Another Great Vetting Job: Obama's Car Czar Under SEC Investigation

Way to go, Barry O, another fine hire you've got here.

Steven Rattner, the leader of the Obama administration's auto task force, was one of the executives involved with payments under scrutiny in a probe of an alleged kickback scheme at New York state's pension fund, according to a person familiar with the matter.

A Securities and Exchange Commission complaint says a "senior executive" of Mr. Rattner's investment firm met with a politically connected consultant about a finder's fee. Later, the complaint says, the firm received an investment from the state pension fund, then paid a $1.1 million fee.

The "senior executive," not named in the complaint, is Mr. Rattner, according to the person familiar with the matter. He is co-founder of the investment firm, Quadrangle Group, which he left to join the Treasury Department to oversee the auto task force earlier this year.

A spokeswoman for the Treasury, which is in charge of the auto task force, said that "during the transition, Mr. Rattner made us aware of the pending investigation."

In the long-running pay-to-play case, authorities allege that about 20 investment firms made payments in exchange for investments from the $122 billion New York State Common Retirement Fund. The case, being investigated by New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo and the SEC, has led to three criminal indictments and a guilty plea.
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Mr. Rattner, 56 years old, is a veteran deal maker who co-founded New York-based Quadrangle in 2000 after spending years as an investment banker at Lehman Brothers, Morgan Stanley and Lazard Freres & Co., where he rose to the No. 2 spot. Earlier this year, President Barack Obama tapped him to lead a task force of two dozen people to figure out how to restructure ailing U.S. auto makers General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LLC.

Hank Morris, who was the top political adviser and chief fund-raiser for former New York Comptroller Alan Hevesi, was a placement agent named in the SEC complaint. The deputy comptroller, who helped produce "Chooch," was David J. Loglisci.

Both men were arrested last month and charged in a 123-count state criminal indictment that included money-laundering, enterprise-corruption and bribery charges. The SEC filed civil-fraud charges against the two men. Attorneys for the two men have denied the accusations.

H/T The Rhetorician