--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Maybe that first, gigantic deficit the…" description: "\"Maybe that first, gigantic deficit the Reaganites piled up was an accident, just a combination of deluded 'supply side' tax cuts and a huge bag of good..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a31/thomas-frank-4078_accident_maybe-that-first-gigantic-deficit-the-re_2541252.png" --- # Maybe that first, gigantic deficit the Reaganites piled up… ![“Maybe that first, gigantic deficit the Reaganites piled up was an accident, just a combination of deluded 'supply side' tax cuts and a huge bag of good stuff for the Pentagon. But pretty quickly conservatives discovered that deficits, when done correctly, did something really cool: deficits…” quote by Thomas Frank](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a31/thomas-frank-4078_accident_maybe-that-first-gigantic-deficit-the-re_2541252.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a31/thomas-frank-4078_accident_maybe-that-first-gigantic-deficit-the-re_2541252.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a31/thomas-frank-4078_accident_maybe-that-first-gigantic-deficit-the-re_2541252.png) > “Maybe that first, gigantic deficit the Reaganites piled up was an accident, just a combination of deluded 'supply side' tax cuts and a huge bag of good stuff for the Pentagon. But pretty quickly conservatives discovered that deficits, when done correctly, did something really cool: deficits defunded the Left.” [Thomas Frank](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-frank/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Deficits can be used strategically by conservatives to weaken left‑wing policies, turning fiscal shortfalls into political tools. **In simple terms:** Conservatives turn deficits into political weapons against the Left. Key Takeaway Use fiscal policy strategically. Themes politics economics strategy Mood critical analytical Type political economic When to use this quote - election campaigns - budget negotiations - policy advocacy Key Concepts deficit spending political maneuvering supply side economics Questions to Reflect On - How do deficits affect public trust? - Can short‑term political gains justify long‑term debt? A Different Perspective Deficits may harm long‑term fiscal health and public services. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Accident](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/accident/) [Accidents](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/accidents/) [Bags](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bags/) [Combination](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/combination/) [Conservatives Discovered](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/conservatives-discovered-1435366/) [Cool](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cool/) [Cutting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cutting/) [Deficit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/deficit/) [Deficit Reaganites](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/deficit-reaganites-1435365/) [Deficits Defunded](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/deficits-defunded-1435367/) [Discovered Deficits](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/discovered-deficits-1435368/) [Done](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/done/) [Firsts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/firsts/) [Good](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/good/) [Huge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/huge/) [Left](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/left/) [Pentagon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pentagon/) [Reaganites Piled](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reaganites-piled-1435369/) [Really cool](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/really-cool/) [Sides](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sides/) [Something](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/something/) [Stuff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stuff/) [Tax cuts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tax-cuts/) [Taxes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/taxes/) ## Related quotes > [The right wing has an ecosystem that is funded by billionaires who want tax cuts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cenk-uygur/the-right-wing-has-an-ecosystem-that-is-funded-by-billionaires-who/) [Cenk Uygur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cenk-uygur/) > [On issue after issue, the polls - and these are not snapshot polls; these are polls over a consistent period of time - show…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katrina-vanden-heuvel/on-issue-after-issue-the-polls-and-these-are-not-snapshot-polls-these/) [Katrina vanden Heuvel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katrina-vanden-heuvel/) > [Tax reduction has an almost irresistible appeal to the politician, and it is no doubt also gratifying to the citizen. It means more dollars…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-w-gardner/tax-reduction-has-an-almost-irresistible-appeal-to-the-politician-and/) [John W. Gardner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-w-gardner/) > [To reduce deficit spending and our enormous debt, you reign in spending. You cut the budget. You don't take more from the private sector…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-palin/to-reduce-deficit-spending-and-our-enormous-debt-you-reign-in/) [Sarah Palin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-palin/) > [Will some reporter, or some Republican on the Sunday shows, please ask why tax cuts raid the non-existent Social Security Trust Fund but all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rush-limbaugh/will-some-reporter-or-some-republican-on-the-sunday-shows-please-ask/) [Rush Limbaugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rush-limbaugh/) > [It is time to recognize a simple fact of life. Contrary to what some of my colleagues seem to believe, tax cuts do not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-voinovich/it-is-time-to-recognize-a-simple-fact-of-life-contrary-to-what-some/) [George Voinovich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-voinovich/) > [What Donald Trump is proposing with these massive tax cuts will result in a $20 trillion additional national debt. That will have dire consequences…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hillary-clinton/what-donald-trump-is-proposing-with-these-massive-tax-cuts-will/) [Hillary Clinton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hillary-clinton/) > [Tax cuts continue to benefit families, seniors, and small business owners, as evidenced by unparalleled economic growth in Nevada and across the country.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jon-porter/tax-cuts-continue-to-benefit-families-seniors-and-small-business/) [Jon Porter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jon-porter/) > [A tax cut means higher family income and higher business profits and a balanced federal budget.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-f-kennedy/a-tax-cut-means-higher-family-income-and-higher-business-profits-and/) [John F. Kennedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-f-kennedy/) > [The president is 100 percent for extending the tax cuts for 98.7 percent of small businesses.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/austan-goolsbee/the-president-is-100-percent-for-extending-the-tax-cuts-for-98-7/) [Austan Goolsbee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/austan-goolsbee/) > [Today's tax cuts provide yet another illustration of the Republicans' fiscally irresponsible economic policies that ignore the needs of America's middle class, students, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-tauscher/today-s-tax-cuts-provide-yet-another-illustration-of-the-republicans/) [Ellen Tauscher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-tauscher/) > [ Everything \[Ronald Reagan\] got, the tax cuts, he had Democrats outnumbering him in the House and Senate everywhere. There were certain realities that he… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rush-limbaugh/everything-ronald-reagan-got-the-tax-cuts-he-had-democrats/) [Rush Limbaugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rush-limbaugh/) > [You know, compromise can't be a dirty word in American politics. There's plenty to argue about. Trump administration is still talking about ridiculous tax…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hillary-clinton/you-know-compromise-can-t-be-a-dirty-word-in-american-politics-there/) [Hillary Clinton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hillary-clinton/) > [To the extent that we've got a fiscal crisis right now, part of it is prompted by a bullheaded insistence on the part of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barack-obama/to-the-extent-that-we-ve-got-a-fiscal-crisis-right-now-part-of-it-is/) [Barack Obama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barack-obama/) > [Together, we enacted historic tax cuts and made record investments in education and public safety.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glenn-youngkin/together-we-enacted-historic-tax-cuts-and-made-record-investments-in/) [Glenn Youngkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glenn-youngkin/) ## More by Thomas Frank > [I was in a bad mood when I wrote that.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-frank/i-was-in-a-bad-mood-when-i-wrote-that/) [Thomas Frank](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-frank/) > [“above all, intellectual. Anti-intellectualism is one of the grand unifying themes of the backlash, the mutant strain of class war that underpins so many…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-frank/above-all-intellectual-anti-intellectualism-is-one-of-the-grand/) [Thomas Frank](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-frank/) > [The only truly individualistic health-care choice - where you receive care that is unpolluted by anyone else's funds - is to forgo insurance altogether,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-frank/the-only-truly-individualistic-health-care-choice-where-you-receive/) [Thomas Frank](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-frank/) > [Conservatism is not a doctrine of contentment. Not a doctrine for the satisfied and the smug. It's a politics that's at war with the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-frank/conservatism-is-not-a-doctrine-of-contentment-not-a-doctrine-for-the/) [Thomas Frank](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-frank/) > [A president aiming for 'Great' or 'Near Great' status must do more. He must give lots of interviews, make records accessible, and heap the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-frank/a-president-aiming-for-great-or-near-great-status-must-do-more-he/) [Thomas Frank](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-frank/) > [“Innovation liberalism is "a liberalism of the rich," to use the straightforward phrase of local labor leader Harris Gruman. This doctrine has no patience…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-frank/innovation-liberalism-is-a-liberalism-of-the-rich-to-use-the/) [Thomas Frank](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-frank/) > [Media bias has been a favorite theme of the Right for decades, of course.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-frank/media-bias-has-been-a-favorite-theme-of-the-right-for-decades-of/) [Thomas Frank](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-frank/) > [Presidential legacies are valuable things, too valuable to be left up to historians.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-frank/presidential-legacies-are-valuable-things-too-valuable-to-be-left-up/) [Thomas Frank](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-frank/) > [A lot of populists after populism died just became socialists. At the beginning of the 20th century, socialism looked like it was going to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-frank/a-lot-of-populists-after-populism-died-just-became-socialists-at-the/) [Thomas Frank](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-frank/) > [“And so the catastrophe of 1929–33 did to the certainties of laissez-faire economics what science did to nineteenth-century religion and what the slaughter of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-frank/and-so-the-catastrophe-of-1929-33-did-to-the-certainties-of-laissez/) [Thomas Frank](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-frank/) > [Vibrancy is so universally desirable, so totemic in its powers, that even though we aren't sure what the word means, we know the quality…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-frank/vibrancy-is-so-universally-desirable-so-totemic-in-its-powers-that/) [Thomas Frank](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-frank/) > [Under the administration of George W. Bush, you will recall, federal spending grew pretty significantly. At the same time, the number of people directly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-frank/under-the-administration-of-george-w-bush-you-will-recall-federal/) [Thomas Frank](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-frank/) > [Massive inequality, we have learned, isn't the best way to run an economy after all. And when you think about it, it's also profoundly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-frank/massive-inequality-we-have-learned-isn-t-the-best-way-to-run-an/) [Thomas Frank](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-frank/) > [Governing was always difficult for conservatives, but as they return to the opposition, they are rediscovering their skill at blame evasion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-frank/governing-was-always-difficult-for-conservatives-but-as-they-return/) [Thomas Frank](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-frank/) > [Back in the days when the market was a kind of secular god and all the world thrilled to behold the amazing powers of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-frank/back-in-the-days-when-the-market-was-a-kind-of-secular-god-and-all/) [Thomas Frank](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-frank/) [Explore all 116 Thomas Frank quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-frank/) ## More Accident quotes > [Fame, we may understand, is no sure test of merit, but only a probability of such: it is an accident, not a property, of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-carlyle/fame-we-may-understand-is-no-sure-test-of-merit-but-only-a/) [Thomas Carlyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-carlyle/) > [I went to school at night in L.A. to brush up on my engineering while I applied to the astronaut program. I really did…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mae-jemison/i-went-to-school-at-night-in-l-a-to-brush-up-on-my-engineering-while/) [Mae Jemison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mae-jemison/) > [“The accident in your rearview mirror already happened. The one in front of you is still preventable. Pay attention.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nakia-r-laushaul/the-accident-in-your-rearview-mirror-already-happened-the-one-in/) [Nakia R. Laushaul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nakia-r-laushaul/) > [People dont get married by accident and they dont get divorced by accident.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/darren-hayes/people-dont-get-married-by-accident-and-they-dont-get-divorced-by/) [Darren Hayes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/darren-hayes/) > [My father had Parkinson's, though he actually died following a bicycle accident.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kt-tunstall/my-father-had-parkinson-s-though-he-actually-died-following-a-bicycle/) [KT Tunstall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kt-tunstall/) > [A tragic car accident put me in a wheelchair and dashed my hopes and dreams for the future.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/madison-cawthorn/a-tragic-car-accident-put-me-in-a-wheelchair-and-dashed-my-hopes-and/) [Madison Cawthorn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/madison-cawthorn/) > [My musical career was an accident.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sade-adu/my-musical-career-was-an-accident/) [Sade Adu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sade-adu/) > [The spirit in the body is like wine in a glass; when it spills, it seeps into air and earth and light….It’s a mistake…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-michaels/the-spirit-in-the-body-is-like-wine-in-a-glass-when-it-spills-it/) [Anne Michaels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-michaels/) > [accident ruled every corner of the universe except the chambers of the human heart.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-guterson/accident-ruled-every-corner-of-the-universe-except-the-chambers-of/) [David Guterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-guterson/) > [There is a French expression that says: to be exposed to an accident, to cross a street without looking at the cars means exposing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-virilio/there-is-a-french-expression-that-says-to-be-exposed-to-an-accident/) [Paul Virilio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-virilio/) > [It's no accident that most self-help groups use 'anonymous' in their names; to Americans, the first step toward redemption is a ritual wiping out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-kirn/it-s-no-accident-that-most-self-help-groups-use-anonymous-in-their/) [Walter Kirn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-kirn/) > [High birth is an accident, not a virtue.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pietro-metastasio/high-birth-is-an-accident-not-a-virtue/) [Pietro Metastasio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pietro-metastasio/) > [“I just got out of the hospital. I was in a speed reading accident. I hit a book mark and flew across the room.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-wright/i-just-got-out-of-the-hospital-i-was-in-a-speed-reading-accident-i/) [Steven Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-wright/) > [However, I met with a horrible accident while riding my bike in Sangla Valley. The accident was a wakeup call for me stop getting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abhinav-shukla/however-i-met-with-a-horrible-accident-while-riding-my-bike-in-sangla/) [Abhinav Shukla](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abhinav-shukla/) > [“Because the core of my personal philosophy is that everything that happens to us benefits us, I was also spared the futility of cursing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/because-the-core-of-my-personal-philosophy-is-that-everything-that/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) [Browse all 922 Accident quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/accident/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Maybe that first, gigantic deficit the Reaganites piled up was an accident, just a combination of deluded 'supply side' tax cuts and a huge bag of good stuff for the Pentagon. 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