She might not be setting Europe on fire like Michelle Obama did, but there’s another Michelle out there who sets my free-market heart ablaze: Michelle Caruso-Cabrera. This afternoon, the CNBCer displayed the kind of moxie that has endeared her to me, ripping the class-warfare rap that Pres. Obama offered up today. Power Lunch opened with live video of PBO’s Tax Day spiel that included these populist nuggets:

• “We start from the simple premise that we should reduce the tax burden on working people.”
• “We need to end the tax breaks for the wealthiest 2% of Americans. So that people like me, who are extraordinarily . . . lucky are paying the same rates that the wealthiest 2% were paying when Bill Clinton was president.” [I urge readers to view the video to see the especial emphasis Obama put on "lucky." Life's just a lottery, don't you know?]
• “For too long we’ve seen taxes used as a wedge to scare people into supporting policies that actually increase the burden on working people instead of helping them live their dreams.”
• “We’re renewing our commitment to a simpler tax code that rewards work.”

It was PBO’s notion of who constitutes “working people” that set MC-C off . . .

MICHELLE CARUSO-CABRERA: Isn’t it frustrating?: “reduce taxes on working people.” there’s an implication there, he’s implying that people who are well-off in this country didn’t work or dont’ work or are lazy, or somehow they came into that money. The vast majority worked like dogs. And it’s so grating!

Now that’s my kind of Michelle.

Note: who says PBO doesn’t have a sense of humor?

Beyond the class warfare he managed to work in some real laugh lines. Sure, he delivered them in his trademark deadpan, but they were true rib-ticklers:

“Americans are making hard choices in their budgets, and we’ve got to tighten our belts in Washington as well. And that’s why we’ve already identified $2 trillion in deficit reductions over the next decade. And that’s why we’re cutting programs that don’t work, contracts that aren’t fair and spending that we don’t need.”

Stop it, Barack–you’re killing me!