Steve Rattner, Former "Car Czar," Claims Rahm Emanuel Coarsely Dismissed Auto Workers Union

A soon-to-be released book that details the Obama administration's efforts to save the auto industry portrays the president's team in a generally favorable light, according to reports -- but it also offers unflattering portrayals of some of President Obama's top staffers.

Steve Rattner, known as Mr. Obama's former "car czar," has penned a 300-plus page book entitled "Overhaul" which gives one of the first inside looks into the Obama White House. Rattner was a Wall Street financier and major Democratic donor who served as an auto industry adviser in the first few months of the Obama administration.

His account of events includes an incident in which White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel allegedly bluntly dismissed the interests of the United Auto Workers union, according to the Huffington Post, which received an advanced copy of the book.

In a conversation about General Motors and Chrysler's potential bankruptcies, Emanuel reportedly said, "Why even save GM?" When another official noted that tens of thousands of jobs were stake, Emanuel reportedly said, "F**k the UAW."

An unnamed White House official told the Washington Post that Emanuel "tirelessly defended and advocated on behalf of the autoworkers" and that claims to the contrary are "ridiculous." On top of that, UAW President Bob King told the Post that the anecdote was "baloney."

The book also reportedly offers negative portrayals of Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Sheila Bair and White House senior adviser Larry Summers.

Rattner, however, describes Mr. Obama as on a par with "the best CEOs I had spent time with on Wall Street," according to the Washington Post.

Rattner left the administration in July 2009, after federal investigators began probing whether he engaged in a "pay-for-play" scheme to win his old private equity firm a lucrative contract from New York's pension system. No charges have been filed.