William J. Holstein

Who Authorized the Firing of Rick Wagoner?
April 3--The Obama administration says that it believes in transparency so here is a question that I think must be answered: who authorized Steve Rattner to fire Rick Wagoner on the spot at a meeting a week ago today?

Rattner is a New York-based former journalist and investment banker who pulled political strings to become the leader of Obama's task force on the auto industry even though he had no experience in the automotive sector. Did he make the decision to fire Wagoner all by himself? Or did he clear it with Chief Economic Advisor Larry Summers and Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner? Did President Obama himself know about it ahead of time and approve it? Or was it Obama's idea in the first place?

This is arguably the most important decision the Obama administration has made toward U.S. business and we, the public, want to know: whose idea was it? who approved it? what thought process went into it?

Or was it just one investment banker acting on a personal whim?