Expression used by
George Bush Sr. in describing
Ronald Reagan's ecomonic plan for America. According to Reagan in
1980, he promised to cut
taxes, reduce government deficits, reduce
inflation and rebuild
America's defenses simultaneously.
In theory, Reagan's plan was called supply side economics. The basic premise being that if taxes were cut, people would produce more goods and spend more money, creating more jobs and broader prosperity, which would lead to higher government revenues. You couple that with spending cuts in "wasteful" government programs and presto -you have a balanced budget.
The defintion of "wasteful" government spending mostly affected the poor. Welfare, housing, job training, drug treatment and mass transportation programs were all slashed drastically. In spite of these cuts and tax changes meant to stimulate government revenues -the federal deficit ballooned anyway.