When was it about "I believe in a balanced budget and you don't"? Was it at the same time when the divide was about gay marriage? Or the intervention in Iraq? C

When was it about "I believe in a balanced budget and you don't"? Was it at the same time when the divide was about gay marriage? Or the intervention in Iraq? Civil Rights? Women's suffrage? Reduction of the non-white immigration? When were those simple times of balancing budgets?