Source, in full
Harry L. Hopkins, administrator of the Works Progress Administration. Although Frank R. Kent mentioned the subject of "spending, taxes, and election" in reference to Hopkins in his column, "The Great Game of Politics" (Baltimore, Maryland, Sun, September 25, 1938, p. 1, 16) he first attributed "we are going to spend and spend and spend, and tax and tax and tax, and elect and elect and elect" to Hopkins in the Sun (October 14, 1938), p. 15. Joseph Alsop and Robert Kintner in their column, "The Capital Parade" (Washington, D.C., Evening Star, November 9, 1938, p. A–11), elaborated Hopkins's "probably apocryphal" words to: "Now, get this through your head. We're going to spend and spend and spend, and tax and tax and tax, and re-elect and re-elect and re-elect, until you're dead or forgotten." Arthur Krock, in his column, "In the Nation" (The New York Times, November 10, 1938, p. 26), reported the wording as "we will spend and spend, and tax and tax, and elect and elect". He