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Shortly after president Obama'd $4.4 trillion deficit reduction plan leaked to the press Sunday, the Republicans assailed it as "class warfare," setting the stage for a tenacious political battle in the run-up to the November 2012 elections. Whether the plan can pass is a big "if," but that's not necessarily the point: it includes a number of populist measures that poll well, such as a millionaire's tax, and forces Republicans to make politically dangerous arguments against slashing Social Security. Here's why it makes for smart politics.
It will fire up his base, write Carrie Budoff Brown and Jennifer Epstein at Politico: "Suffering an erosion of support from the broad coalition that elected him, Obama has crafted a plan that reads more like a blueprint for shoring up his restless Democratic base than a vehicle for reaching across the aisle in search of bipartisan compromise." The plan's nods to the left include not cutting from Social Security, threatening to veto any bill that "takes on dime" from Medicare benefits, and not increasing the Medicare eligibility age from 65 to 67, ideas that were floated to Boehner during the summer's deficit talks.