# It's the taxes stupid (Origin of Quote)

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-the-taxes-stupid-origin-of-quote/196577>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [August 21, 2003, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-the-taxes-stupid-origin-of-quote/196577 "2003-08-21T02:50:22Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Homer\_J.Simpson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a698b9/32.png) [@Homer\_J.Simpson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Homer_J.Simpson)\
**Post date:** [August 21, 2003, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-the-taxes-stupid-origin-of-quote/196577/1 "2003-08-21T02:50:22Z")

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What is the origin of the quote, “It’s the taxes stupid.”

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**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\
**Post date:** [August 21, 2003, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-the-taxes-stupid-origin-of-quote/196577/2 "2003-08-21T03:18:17Z")

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Probably a poor relation of “It’s the economy, Stupid”

> [@](#):
>
> “formulaic reminder of central issue or goal. James Carville, Bill Clinton’s political strategist in the 1992 election, placed a sign over his desk in the Little Rock headquarters: ‘It’s the economy, Stupid!’ For a campaigner fixed on a need for a central theme, the sign encapsulated a pointed response to the question ‘What is the campaign about?’…

[Phrase Finder](http://phrases.shu.ac.uk/bulletin_board/18/messages/764.html)