Connell Takes the Wheel with Carl Jeffers, Slams Into Wall of Words

As Imus waited for the communication system at the Imus Ranch to come to life, Connell McShane happily conducted a thoughtful interview with Carl Jeffers, and even managed to sneak in more than two questions.
 
Like Connell, Jeffers believes that despite rounds of meetings at the White House over raising the debt ceiling, the President and the GOP are no closer to an agreement. As Jeffers sees it, the most telling event happened over the weekend, when President Obama and Speaker Boehner appeared to have reached a deal that would cut some funding for social services while simultaneously closing certain tax loopholes.
 
“Boehner went back to his caucus, and the Tea Partiers, through Michele Bachmann and their public statements, essentially rejected the deal and rejected Boehner,” Jeffers, a Democrat and political analyst, said. “The concern I would have as a member of the Republican Party is the Tea Partiers could very well win the battle and lose the war.”
 
He explained that Republicans tend to catch the blame when services are cut, which any deal over the deficit will likely include. But Jeffers thinks Congress should raise the debt ceiling without putting any deal in place at all.
 
“The debt ceiling has been raised over 30 times since World War II,” he said, noting that the only difference this time around is that every member of Congress feels the need to grandstand and explain their own personal course of action.
 
Should the two sides fail to increase the limit, the country would not go immediately into bankruptcy, Jeffers pointed out. “The Secretary of the Treasury will have to make a decision about which bill to pay, and in the context of that there will be important groups, constituents, and services that will not get paid,” he said. One of those groups, as Connell observed, would be military families.
 
All this wrangling over the debt is taking place as the race for president in 2012 heats up. It remains to be seen who will take on Obama next year, but a far as Jeffers is concerned, it’s surprising that he remains uncontested within his own party.
 
Were Obama not African-American, Jeffers surmised, “he would have a major challenger running against him in the primaries.” Not that it’s all about race, but Jeffers believes it’s “one of the factors that makes it easier for him, given how difficult his presidency has been for him, which, frankly, none of us expected.”
 
Jeffers maintains that Hillary Clinton, whom he initially supported in 2008, would have done more as president to deal with the issue of race in America, but he understands the restrictions put on Obama. “He has felt that with all of these other problems, that if he tries to deal with fireside chats on race or town halls, that would only alienate people who are already upset because the jobs situation has to be dealt with,” Jeffers said.
 
Mitt Romney remains, in his opinion, the candidate most likely to receive the Republican nomination for President, and also the most likely contender to actually beat Obama in 2012. As for Vice President, he believes the ultra-conservative Rick Perry, Governor of Texas, would be a wise choice because he would draw states like North Carolina and Indiana back to the Republican side.
 
Jeffers could, of course, expand on this issue too, but mercifully time was up. Of his loquacious guest, Connell commented, “We just wind you up and you’re going!”
 
Which is probably a lot more family friendly than what the I-Man would have said.
 
-Julie Kanfer