Obama Plays Populist Card

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Obama Plays Populist Card
President Obama unveils his $3 trillion deficit reduction plan at 10:30 am ET.

Ezra Klein notes the core of the plan "is not a major concession to the GOP, or a high-profile display of the Obama administration's independence from party. It's a populist proposal for increasing taxes on the rich, and a veto threat against cutting Medicare benefits without increasing taxes on the rich."

"The White House's strategy here isn't to appear so reasonable that Republicans can't help but cut a deal. They feel they tried that during the debt-ceiling debate, and it failed. The White House's strategy here is to produce a popular plan that strikes directly at Republican vulnerabilities on taxes and Medicare. If that scares the GOP and makes them more interested in coming to an agreement in the supercommittee process, then great. If not, it gives the White House a message to base its reelection campaign off of."

Jonathan Cohn: "This time, the administration isn't trying to put a compromise on the table, in the hopes Republicans will come around to it. Instead, the administration is laying out its preferred vision for reducing the deficit, in the hopes it can establish an ideal for an eventual compromise or -- in case no compromise can be reached -- convey to the voters what principles this White House and the president care about most."

Alexander Burns: "The proposal may bring smiles to the faces of liberals who have been frustrated at Obama's unwillingness to fight for progressive tax priorities. It'll also give Obama a chance at winning the trust of fiscally conservative independent voters."

http://politicalwire.com/archives/2011/ ... _card.html