"Tax and Spend" is an epithet

Epithet

An epithet or byname is a descriptive term accompanying or occurring in place of a name and having entered common usage. It has various shades of meaning when applied to seemingly real or fictitious people, divinities, objects, and binomial nomenclature. It is also a descriptive title...

 applied to politicians ("tax and spend liberals"), programs, and opposing political philosophy

Political philosophy

Political philosophy is the study of such topics as liberty, justice, property, rights, law, and the enforcement of a legal code by authority: what they are, why they are needed, what, if anything, makes a government legitimate, what rights and freedoms it should protect and why, what form it...

 by the American center-right, conservative, and libertarian movements. It does have another neutral, objective, connotation

Connotation

A connotation is a commonly understood subjective cultural or emotional association that some word or phrase carries, in addition to the word's or phrase's explicit or literal meaning, which is its denotation....

 i.e. with regard to tax policy

Tax policy

Tax policy is the government's approach to taxation, both from the practical and normative side of the question.-Philosophy:Policymakers debate the nature of the tax structure they plan to implement and how they might affect individuals and businesses .The reason for such foitution effect]],...

 or fiscal policy

Fiscal policy

In economics and political science, fiscal policy is the use of government expenditure and revenue collection to influence the economy....

 but this usage is rare/technical. Rather it is used primarily in American mainstream political discourse for its hot button value, and literally to cast all taxation and spending outside of the minimum number of approved purposes, such as defense expenditure, as a presumptive negative.

History

It appears the formulation first appeared in print in a 1938 New York Times report written by Arthur Krock

Arthur Krock

Arthur Krock was a journalist and received the nickname "Dean of Washington newsmen". Born in Glasgow, Kentucky in 1887, he grew up with his grandparents, Emmanuel and Henrietta Morris...

, quoting President Franklin D. Roosevelt

Franklin D. Roosevelt

Franklin Delano Roosevelt , also known by his initials, FDR, was the 32nd President of the United States and a central figure in world events during the mid-20th century, leading the United States during a time of worldwide economic crisis and world war...

's trusted advisor Harry Hopkins

Harry Hopkins

Harry Lloyd Hopkins was one of Franklin Delano Roosevelt's closest advisers. He was one of the architects of the New Deal, especially the relief programs of the Works Progress Administration , which he directed and built into the largest employer in the country...

, the Administrator of the Works Progress Administration

Works Progress Administration

The Works Progress Administration was the largest and most ambitious New Deal agency, employing millions of unskilled workers to carry out public works projects, including the construction of public buildings and roads, and operated large arts, drama, media, and literacy projects...

 (WPA), a key agency of Roosevelt's New Deal

New Deal

The New Deal was a series of economic programs implemented in the United States between 1933 and 1936. They were passed by the U.S. Congress during the first term of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The programs were Roosevelt's responses to the Great Depression, and focused on what historians call...

 program: "[Hopkins] met a criticism of this sinister combination by saying: 'We will spend and spend, and tax and tax, and elect and elect.'" (According to Krock, the "sinister combination" was Roosevelt, Hopkins, United States Postmaster General James Farley

James Farley

James Aloysius Farley was the first Irish Catholic politician in American history to achieve success on a national level, serving as Chairman of the New York State Democratic Committee, Chairman of the Democratic National Committee and as Postmaster General simultaneously under the first two...

, and New Jersey Democratic political boss Frank Hague

Frank Hague

Frank Hague was an American Democratic Party politician who served as the mayor of Jersey City, New Jersey from 1917 to 1947, Democratic National Committeeman from New Jersey from 1922 until 1949, and Vice-Chairman of the Democratic National Committee from 1924 until 1949.Hague has a widely-known...

.)

Two weeks later, Hopkins and Krock argued the point in duelling letters to the editor of The New York Times. First Hopkins flatly denied he had ever laid out the "tax, spend, elect" formulation, but Krock asserted that "I used and printed the quotation after careful verification because, while it completely into Mr. Hopkins's political philosophy as I have understood it, I wanted to be certain of the language." Krock also revealed that he had spoken with witnesses who claimed to have heard Hopkins make the comment at the Empire Race Track in Yonkers, New York, including a "reputable citizen" who was "in lighter hours, a playmate of Mr. Hopkins." The phrase endured.

Other uses

The term is also an allusion to the Taxing and Spending Clause

Taxing and Spending Clause

Article I, Section 8, Clause 1 of the United States Constitution, is known as the Taxing and Spending Clause. It is the clause that gives the federal government of the United States its power of taxation...

 of the US Constitution. This power gives Congress the power to impose taxes to finance government debt and the power to spend for the General Welfare, within strictly-defined limits.

Alternatives

The opposite approach is low tax and low spend; reducing government spending to lower the tax burden. There are other options that exist: high taxes and low spending leads to a budget surplus, while low taxes and high spending leads to a budget deficit. In the case of a budget deficit, the deficit can be paid for either by deficit financing, such as raising bonds

Bond (finance)

In finance, a bond is a debt security, in which the authorized issuer owes the holders a debt and, depending on the terms of the bond, is obliged to pay interest to use and/or to repay the principal at a later date, termed maturity...

 to pay for higher government services, a strategy which puts the government into debt

Debt

A debt is an obligation owed by one party to a second party, the creditor; usually this refers to assets granted by the creditor to the debtor, but the term can also be used metaphorically to cover moral obligations and other interactions not based on economic value.A debt is created when a...

, or, in a fiat money

Fiat money

Fiat money is money that has value only because of government regulation or law. The term derives from the Latin fiat, meaning "let it be done", as such money is established by government decree. Where fiat money is used as currency, the term fiat currency is used.Fiat money originated in 11th...

 system, by printing money to cover the deficit, called "monetizing the debt".

Some argue that the formulation should be reversed, instead being "spend and tax". One such argument comes from Chartalism

Chartalism

Chartalism is a descriptive economic theory that details the procedures and consequences of using government-issued tokens as the unit of money. The name derives from the Latin charta, in the sense of a token or ticket...

, which argues that in a fiat money system, fiat money must first be printed and spent by the state before it can be collected in taxation.