By: Terresa Monroe-Hamilton

Ron Bloom – Car Czar

Meet the new Car Czar – Ron Bloom. Mr. Bloom is replacing Steve Rattner, a New York Investment Banker who is now under scrutiny for a kickback scam. Bloom, a Harvard Business-trained banker turned United Steelworkers official, will now take over as the official Car Czar for the Obama administration. He is 53 and is considered one of Time’s top 100 candidates (for whatever that is worth these days). Bloom has no auto industry experience, but he has tons of union experience… Need I say more.

From the Wall Street Journal:

Mr. Bloom attended Harvard Business School, where he gravitated to populist business cases and was keenly interested in employee buyouts. After 10 years at investment banks, among them Lazard, he became special assistant to the USW president in 1996.

Both inside and outside the USW, Mr. Bloom is known as a financially savvy negotiator — with a tendency to spout profanities. In a 2007 article depicting Mr. Bloom’s role in the Wheeling-Pittsburgh Corp. takeover battle, The Wall Street Journal wrote some USW members thought Mr. Bloom is “too cozy with the moneymen.”

By most accounts, Mr. Bloom is a very savvy businessman. He is tough but has big labor’s best interests at heart – in other words, the common shareholder will most likely be screwed. They say he is very good at turning companies around – my concern is his ties to big labor as well as the Democrat Party. And, let’s not forget, he is recruited from Wall Street. Yeah, that’s worked out so well in the past. New face, same old approach…

From The Examiner:

Why? Well Bloom will not help “restructure” the auto industry, he will “monitor” it according to today’s story, “The New General Motors” by Chrissie Thompson of the Automotive Insider News. Yes folks, he’ll be monitoring it so it runs just like the Obama administration wants it to! This is a shame folks. It’s a shame because large investment firms, big insurance firms, and the like continue to run and not be hand-spanked by Obama; yet the auto industry continues to receive daily spankings.

Is Ron Bloom a good choice for Obama’s auto task force? Nope folks, but I bet he can say, “Yes I can!“

It would appear though that Mr. Bloom gives donations to both sides of the aisle, donating not only to the Democrat Party, but to Rudy Giuliani as well. That’s interesting…

Mr. Bloom will not commit to a timeline on the government being involved with GM and Chrysler. He just won’t. I’ve also listened to his testimony and his answering of questions to Senator Hutchison. That’s the problem – he really did not answer why profitable dealerships were closed. And claiming that the government has no say in GM’s dealings is simply not true. I suspect partisan and union favoritism here.

Glenn Beck, as usual, seems to have a better grasp on this appointment than most:

Unfortunately, most online information just repeats the same old info and by-line on Ron Bloom over and over again. In parting though, I will say this: when you mix big unions, Wall Street and the US government, it can’t be good for the American people or for sound fiscal responsibility…

A Czar Too Far – #1 (Overview)
A Czar Too Far – #2 (Science Czar)
A Czar Too Far – #3 (Safe Schools Czar)

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