You hit the bottom line

Listening to the radio this morning and the DJs were discussing Trump’s wall speech and the Democratic response. One guy was making the point that both stated their positions but no minds were changed.  To which the other guy replied “ you hit the bottom line”.  This is a conflation of “hit the nail on the head” (exactly the right thing) and “the bottom line” (by extension, the most important aspect of something).  “Hit bottom” (lowest point in a decline) might also have been in the speaker’s mind, considering the nadir in politics right now with the shutdown.  A big thanks to Steve Grieme for hearing this one on his morning commute and sending it in.