Obama didn't win this. Rather, Boner lost.

[Proud Liberal Dem]

10. Either

President Obama is jonesing to cut Social Security, Medicare, etc. His overriding ambition is to cut both programs because he's just a no-good lying DINO or an "R" in disguise. See how crazy that sounds?

OR

President Obama is gambling with all this stuff knowing that no matter what he puts on the table, the Republicans will say no and he'll come across as being willing to compromise and they'll look crazy (crazier, anyway) and unreasonable. At which point, nothing happens. No deal. None of the stuff that he put on the table matters because nobody on the Democratic side is going to pass any of these things into law unless we were to get something significant in return and even then most of the ideas that have been floated might not get passed either, so nothing's been lost. No deals, no laws, no loss.........

OR

President Obama is willing to do something unpleasant- but as least unpleasant possible- in order to get a good deal with the Republicans on stimulus, or something worth the trade-off. He knows that he has to still deal with the Republicans controlling the House for another 2 years (at least), so, although the Democrats hold the WH and Senate, there will have to be SOME compromise with the House GOP. As far as I can tell, agreeing to a Chained CPI (with some protections) is probably the least odious thing to agree to- if the trade-off appears to be worth it.

You can take your pick about what you believe his motivations/strategy are