Former Wall Streeter and Obama “car czar” Steven Rattner says that without government intervention via TARP, the economy would be ''dust'' now.

“I think people completely misunderstand the rescues by both the Bush administration and the Obama administration,” Rattner tells Reuters.

“The rescues were very successful, both in the financial sector and in the car sector. I would do the same job over again because we had the tools to make it work.”

Had they had to go through a complete bankruptcy proceeding, both General Motors and Chrysler would have had to liquidate because there was no private capital available to support them in bankruptcy, Rattner contends.

“GM has now reported two consecutive quarters of positive net income, Chrysler has reported two quarters of operating profit and has more cash than we projected … the jury is still out to some degree, but I feel very good about where we are.”

While he supports the Obama administration’s efforts, Rattner agrees that Wall Streeters do have cause to feel vilified by some of the rhetoric used by the White House during the bailout process.

“I don’t think the policies themselves have been anti-business,” Rattner says, adding that he thinks business in general and Wall Street in particular must realize “the country is very, very angry at them.”

The Detroit Free Press reports that General Motors’ purchase of AmeriCredit will create a new entity called General Motors Financial, intended to provide more access to subprime lending and leasing.