— Senator Claire McCaskill offered her first support for at least part of President Obama’s deficit reduction plan announced earlier this week.

McCaskill lauded the president’s so-called “Buffett Rule,” named after billionaire investor Warren Buffett, that would require higher earners to pay at least the same percentage as lesser earners.

“While the Republican talking points say the Buffett rule is class warfare, I say it’s about fundamental fairness for most Americans — those in the middle class,” McCaskill, one of the richest members of congress, wrote in an email to supporters, arguing the rule is about fairness in the tax code.

The first-term Democrat, up for reelection next year, called on supporters to tell her whether they think “millionaires and billionaires” should “pay their fair share,” and linked to a poll on her campaign website.

**UPDATE** Chris Bond, press secretary for the National Republican Senatorial Committee, said: “It’s ironic that Senator McCaskill wants to wade into a debate about millionaires paying their taxes when she failed to pay her own taxes to the tune of $300,000 on her private plane. But don’t expect her to join Republicans in calling on Warren Buffett to release his tax returns, considering she still refuses to open the books to her own Delaware-based shell companies.”