Car czar #1 headed to prison?

Before Mao Tse-tung enthusiast Ron Bloom was handed the position of car czar, there was Steve Rattner. Rattner managed the billion-dollars bailout to the automobile industry and the government takeover of GM and Chrysler. His good fortune has since run out.

New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo said today that Steven Rattner, the banker and Democratic donor who led the Obama administration's restructuring of the automobile industry, remains under investigation in his office's long probe of the former New York State Comptroller, Alan Hevesi.

A top Hevesi aide, David Loglisci, pled guilty today to knowledge of corruption in the comptroller's office, where a top political aide, Hank Morris, allegedly controlled the contracts to manage hundreds of millions of dolllars. The original Loglisci indictment included the fact that Rattner, one of the politically-connected money managers who was given access to the money of New York State public workers, also financed a low-budget, money-losing movie called "Chooch," which happened to be produced by Loglisci's brother.

David Loglisci's brother, Steve, made the film "Chooch" backed by Rattner's financing. ("Chooch" is an Italian word connoting an idiot.) If Rattner dipped into state money to finance Steve Loglisci's film thanks to David's influence, the man who managed Obama's massive auto company bailout could be headed to prison.

Rattner resigned his position as car czar in May 2009, claiming he wanted to return to the private sector. More likely Obama knew investigators were circling and didn't want Rattner to become a liability. Rattner is being investigated chiefly by New York Attorney General and Senate hopeful Andrew Cuomo, a close ally of Obama's. It has yet to be seen whether Obama will pull a few strings to keep the former car czar safe.