"...  bit of dog-whistle politics ..."  Candidly I had never heard of this speech until it was mentioned in a similar context by our compatriot EN.  I take it that it is something of a cherished touchstone for the modern liberal-progressive?  You make it sound as if all fiscal conservatives carry a copy of it around in their wallets like true-blue liberals carry the lyrics to "Kum Ba Yah" ... but I think that is an exaggeration.

The political left of course has plenty of its own dog-whistles, e.g. the jibe about RR being responsible for the AIDS epidemic.  I was in the Bay Area going to school in the late 1980s, when gay men were perishing by the tens of thousands from HIV.  But in the mass media of the time, I don't recall a single instance where anyone claimed they got HIV from Ronald Reagan.  :-/  RR was no more to blame for the spread of AIDS than he was responsible for male pattern baldness or PMS (sheesh).

Thanks for the exchange of views.