Faced with an uphill reelection battle and a disenfranchised base, President Obama indicated on Monday that he plans on taking a harder line against an anti-tax GOP. In a speech introducing his debt reduction plan yesterday, Obama vowed to veto any plan Congress sends him that does not raise taxes on the wealthy and corporations while cutting Medicare benefits. “I will not support any plan that puts all the burden for closing our deficit on ordinary Americans,” Obama said. Obama’s plan, which will reduce annual deficits up to $4 trillion over 10 years, has been assailed as “class warfare” by Republicans. Jonathan Chait, columnist at New York Magazine and author or “The Big Con: Crackpot Economics and the Fleecing of America,” talks about whether the president’s tonal shift is enough to convince Americans that he’s a strong leader.
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