magic asterisk

Coined by Howard Henry Baker Jr., from the Reagan administration's use in 1981 of asterisks as placeholders for cuts yet to be decided in government spending.

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magic asterisk (plural magic asterisks)

1. (idiomatic, politics, economics) an unspecified future budget cut, especially an imaginary cut.
   • 1986 May 11, Michael Kinsley, “IN THE LAND OF THE MAGIC ASTERISK”, in New York Times:

     The other technique, known as the "magic asterisk," consisted of hiding phony cuts in the small print of various budget documents in order to exaggerate the Administration's success in spending reduction and to minimize the projected deficit.

   • 1991, Wallace C. Peterson, Transfer Spending, Taxes, and the American Welfare State, Kluwer Academic Publishers, section 99:

     Howard Baker, then a Senator, had dubbed them the "magic asterisk," for it was blithely assumed that they would be taken care of at a later date.

   • 2015 March 17, Max Ehrenfreund, “House Republican budget: There’s a mysterious $1.1 trillion in spending cuts in the House GOP’s budget”, in Washington Post:

     "They have a magic asterisk," Hoyer said.
     The magic asterisk: The words alone are enough to strike fear into the hearts of grizzled veterans of the budget wars.