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The label of “fiscal conservative” used to mean something.

It referred to people — mostly Republicans — whose top priority was the health of the federal government’s balance sheet. They favored a small deficit, or no deficit at all.

They generally preferred holding down the deficit through a small government, but they were also open to tax increases to bring down the deficit. The first President George Bush and President Dwight Eisenhower were both fiscal conservatives.

Today, however, the original meaning of the label has been all but destroyed.

Few if any current Republican leaders care deeply about the deficit. Their top priority is instead reducing taxes on the affluent. If they can’t find budget cuts to match their tax cuts — especially because many budget cuts are unpopular with voters — today’s top Republicans will instead cut taxes anyway and allow the deficit to grow. As Dick Cheney said, “Reagan proved deficits don’t matter.”