Susan Walsh / AP Photo
Well, that was fast. Steven Rattner, President Obama's chief adviser on the car industry, is stepping down from his position five months after it was revealed that his firm paid middlemen in New York to help win state pension business. The former New York Times reporter and major Democratic Party contributor had been responsible for overseeing the restructuring of GM and Chrysler, and just successfully steered GM through bankruptcy court, but came under fire for the dealings of his Wall Street firm, Quadrangle. No mention of New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo's investigation into Quadrangle was made in the announcement of Rattner's resignation. Ron Bloom, a former official with the United Steelworkers union, will replace Rattner at the head of Obama's auto task force.