During the Clinton years Mr. Greenspan became an icon of fiscal probity, constantly lecturing politicians on the importance of eliminating deficits and paying off debt.
It's not just that during the Clinton years he became an icon of fiscal probity; the sudden plunge back into deficit undoes his own handiwork.
Mr. Cruz, who is Cuban-American, has drawn comparisons to Mr. Rubio, another youthful Cuban-American who quickly became an icon of fiscal and religious conservatives around the country.
Until his Medicare plan was rolled out in early April he had spent months bathing in warm approbation from many pundits, who had decided to anoint him as an icon of fiscal responsibility.
No, what's interesting is the cult that has grown up around Mr. Ryan — and in particular the way self-proclaimed centrists elevated him into an icon of fiscal responsibility, and even now can't seem to let go of their fantasy.
Hence the elevation of Ryan — who is, in fact, a garden-variety GOP extremist, but with a mild-mannered style — to icon of fiscal responsibility and honest argument, despite the reality that his proposals are both fiscally irresponsible and quite dishonest.
His crusade for political reform and fiscal conservatism made him an icon for American conservatives of the era.
For Mr. Ryan, as you may recall, has positioned himself as an icon of truth-telling and fiscal responsibility, while offering policy proposals that are neither honest nor responsible.
Yet his commitment to tax cuts and fiscal conservatism means he will likely remain a conservative icon with presidential aspirations — he ably outfundraised his opponent $31 million to $9 million, according to the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign.
A panel discussion moderated by Maggie Gallagher of the National Organization for Marriage and which included anti-feminist icon Phyllis Schlafly, was defensively titled, "The Phony Divide Between Fiscal & Social Conservatives: Protecting Marriage as a Case Study".
