If you're going to propose tax increases, be honest and call them tax increases. Don't call them 'reductions in tax expenditures'. Our tax code needs at least one, but probably more like two or three additional brackets above the current $250. That's a change that makes sense to a lot of people. I think adding two brackets, one at $500k and one at $1m, with higher rates for those in those two new brackets, would be a fairly easy sell to most Americans.
That said, what this speech does accomplish is to draw a clear line between his view of our country vs that of the GOP.
"It does me no injury for my neighbour to say there are 20 gods or no god. It neither picks my pocket, nor breaks my leg."
-- Thomas Jefferson