WOW U GOT ME
There is no contradiction. It's both meaningless pap and a cover for rightist views. A similar example would be a left-winger blathering about they "put people above profit". In both cases they have mistaken their own advertising slogan for a cohesive ideology.
If it identifies a group, then it is meaningful, even if it started as a bit of a slogan. Most political groups define their own labels, and are often pretty meaningless if taken by themselves without any additional context, like who uses it. Nevermind "put people above profit," the term "progressive" fits the bill.
Objectively all political labels (including progressive, with its silly whiggish overtones) are silly things to identify with. Nevertheless, the descriptor "progressive" in an American context is very defined. Somebody calls themselves a progressive you have a rough idea where they stand on "the issues" for the most part. Fiscal conservativism? That could mean a huge amount of things, from right-libertarians to Bloombergesque types to so much more - indeed I would argue the reason the Libertarian Party has collapsed into meh this cycle is because of its reliance on such an empty platitudes (HYUK HYUK I WANT GAYS TO HAVE GUNS TO DEFEND TEH WEED LOL). Worse, because it is very rare for politicians to actually advocate a structural deficit as a positive (as opposed to a temporary stimulus or as a necessary evil), the phrase "fiscal conservative" is additionally useless because there is no such thing as a "fiscal liberal".
The final terrible thing about it is that it is classic virtue signalling. Look at that "but". Doesn't it just drip with greasy self-satisfaction? "I'm not a pleb, I'm very special and have a unique political perspective that I've bet you've never considered, you partisan hack." Give me a break!
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