How often do you hear people claiming to be "Socially Liberal but Fiscally Conservative"? I hear it
freakin, all the time!. Usually the context is a conversation with some sort of self-professed "apolitical", "moderate", or "centrist" person talking about how neither party speaks for them because they have these magical, tragically under-represented views of the "Socially Liberal but Fiscally Conservative" thinker. Ok, enough snark, let's be fair; these are well meaning people using the wrong terminology. When someone says this to me I never let it stand, I always follow up with a laundry list of specific questions, such as:
Should there be a minimum wage? (Yes)
Do you belive in public education? (Yes)
What about federal funding for health care? (Yes, at least for those who can't afford it)
Do you think we should privatize Social Security? (No, but it needs to be fixed)
Should we lower taxes on the wealthy? (No)
Do you think we should use regulation to protect the environment? (Yes)
Should government protect consumers from ever more powerful big business? (Yes)
Is military/pentagon spending too high? (Yes)
Oh, ok, well then...
Do you think too much of our taxes are wasted on pork-barrel projects, and big donor payoffs? (Yes) (Duh)
Do you think all problems can be solved by throwing more money, and more beaurocracy, at them? (No) (Duh)
Do you like lower taxes? (Yes) (Duh)
Even at the expense of those programs mentioned above? (Umm... No)
So by saying they're "Socially Liberal but Fiscally Conservative" they almost always mean that they're anti-deficit, anti-wasteful spending, and pro-environment, pro-safety net. They are not "Socially Liberal but Fiscally Conservative", they are "Socially Liberal and Fiscally Responsible". Fiscal Conservatives are for the slashing of the social safety net, the dismantling of progressive taxation, wide scale privatization of public/government services, private profit through tax-payer funded initiatives, and finally the cutting of most non-military government spending. "Socially Liberal but Fiscally Conservative" taken at it's true meaning would actually refer to the hawkish wing of the Libertarian Party. Even Schwarzenegger is more of a moderate than a true conservative(though he has his moments...).
As an illustration, and the reason I decided to turn this notion into a diary, check out this excerpt from an article in AARP magazine I read while waiting in the doctor's office (I'm only 29, but there weren't many options :).
Who owns the Boomer Vote?
This article discusses the political leanings of the Boomer Generation, as compared to "The Silents", and "The Greatest Generation", after talking about their socially liberal free love hippie days it goes on to describe them as surprisingly, "Fiscally Conservative".
On economic issues, for example, 51 percent describe themselves as conservative.
On the flip side ... only 20 percent of boomers call themselves ... liberal on the same economic issues.
It then goes on to show the evidence, through polling, of their "Fiscal Conservativism".
72% believe the federal government has a definite responsibility to protect the environment.
Distrustful of big business, 63% of boomers believe that the federal government has a definite responsibility to protect consumer privacy.
72% of boomers believe the government should bear the burden of educating young people.
59% of boomers believe the federal government has a definite responsibility to provide health care to all citizens.
By a slim majority, boomers oppose privatizing Social Security ...
(They provided no numbers for the last question, but you can look at any number of current polls to see that it's true)
So by showing Boomers to be, in fact, fiscally moderate to liberal, they make their case that they are actually "fiscally conservative"??? Honestly, I even hear Democrats using this term, it is rampant in its misapplication. I think we need some giant "swear jar" so that anytime a Democrat, liberal or moderate pundit, writer, politician, etc. uses the term "fiscally conmservative" when they mean "fiscally responsible" they have to donate $100 to Democratic party related causes. This is a serious framing issue that lets the true fiscal conservatives off the hook for their radical beliefs.
Updated:
bellatrys in a comment says it better and more concise than I ever could:
"they have used 'fiscal conservative' interchangably with 'fiscally responsible,' and thus to deny that one is conservative is to deny that one is responsible."