Carl Jeffers Allows Imus More Than One Question

Carl "One-Question" Jeffers checked in with Imus today and railed about health insurance, Obama's performance, and what he believe executives at AIG and elsewhere will do with their bonus money.

Having recently discovered his own elevated PSA level, Jeffers would like to get a biopsy but is not sure his insurance will cover it. "As great as America is, that area is one where we fall short in comparison to other countries," he said about health care. "When they want treatment they come to America, but in terms of coverage and the process, we are surpassed."

Health care is one issue President Barack Obama hopes to tackle, while simultaneously fixing the environment, the economy, and education. This might all prove difficult since, as Imus pointed out, Obama has no idea what he's doing. Jeffers called this assessment "unfair," and added that Obama's style might have been better-suited for easier times.

"The problems we have now actually require someone who is an expert in doing things the way Washington does things," he said, referring to Obama's relative greenness. "Mired in the trenches, dealing with executives who are spiraling away bonuses, and dealing with the kind of economic morass that we're in might require a different skill set that he needs more time to develop."

Imus gently replied, "That's a very nice way of saying he doesn't know what he's doing."

Jeffers believes that despite Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner's pratfalls, his job will be safe as long as the President has confidence in him. Yet if the conversation transitions into what Geithner knew about the bonuses at AIG and when he knew it, he will become vulnerable.

"If it appears that there is some sort of collusion or there was influence by the Treasury on Chris Dodd, then there will be a real price to pay," said Jeffers.

The American people should direct their anger on this topic toward the government, he added, not at AIG. "If you lend money to your brother or our sister, the time to make some concessions is when you're giving them the money," Jeffers said. "Not when they already have the money!"

Finally, Jeffers said that since the proposed 90 percent tax on bonuses will not reflect until 2010, many of the recipients will take advantage of the situation by making certain investments, and by donating the money to charities.

"The American people aren't going to get the retribution from the recipients that they really want," he said, then attempted to make one last point. "Finally..."

Imus cut Jeffers off. "You said finally before."

-Julie Kanfer