President Obama shouldn’t be afraid of a little class warfare

And imagine if this war between the rich and the rest of us defined the battle for the presidency in 2012. Some people might not be willing to stop paying the mortgage, but they could vote their conscience. The notion that Democrats have abandoned the working class fueled anti-union, pro-tea-party sentiment in the 2010 elections. Yet Republicans have made clear that they would rather cut Social Security and Medicare benefits than raise taxes on the rich or increase spending to help our economy. Initially, Obama conceded to the right and cut taxes. Now, he says he wants to raise them. The president must show us not only that he’s willing to fight, but that he’s willing to fight for middle-class Americans. This may be his last chance to show voters what he’s made of.

Acknowledging and waging class warfare might not please the president’s biggest donors. After all, Goldman Sachs and J.P. Morgan Chase helped bankrollObama’s 2008 campaign. But standing for the middle class will never backfire with voters. Three out of four Americans support raising taxes on the richest of the rich. Even a majority of Republican voters favor such tax increases. With a once-popular president running for a second term, the Democratic Party must do the right thing. If it can’t now, when will it be able to?

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 Collection of cartoons on the federal budget and economy.

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The GOP's take on Obama's call for a millionaires' tax

More on this Story

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• Krauthammer: Obama ditches his fake centrism
• Sargent: Elizabeth Warren takes on ‘class warfare’
• Five myths about millionaires

At the Clinton Global Initiative conference in New York this past week, former president Bill Clinton said: “Whether you can win or not in a fight that’s worth fighting, get caught trying.” Instead of denying that there’s a class war in America, Obama must come out swinging for the good guys. History — and voters — will catch him in the act and reward him. And millions of Americans could be inspired to try, in their own way, to topple our economy’s brutal inequality.

The good news is that Obama may be coming around. Later in the week, he got more aggressive. “If asking a billionaire to pay the same rate as a plumber or a teacher makes me a warrior for the middle class, I wear that charge as a badge of honor,” he said.

Yes, it’s class warfare. Which side are you on?

sally@movementvision.org

Sally Kohn is a political commentator and grass-roots strategist.

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