The budget recently passed by Congress is nothing short of disgraceful and every member of Congress should be held accountable for it. That being said, what is perhaps even more disgraceful than taking part in the recent Washington pork-fest is pretending to be a "budget hawk" while you do it.

Here's North Dakota Senator Kent Conrad pictured in the New York Times and quoted as calling the recently passed budget "disconnected from fiscal reality."



I'm glad the Senator could get in a dig at his political opposition while getting all sorts of attention from the media. Too bad his actions don't back up his words. Even as Conrad has complained about this budget and the amount of money it spends he has voted against two measures that would have reduced spending and encouraged more fiscal responsibility and, in at least two instances, pushed for more spending to be added to the budget.

It isn't like the Republicans are getting it right on spending. For the most part they're not, and Conrad is right to criticize. However, if he is going to criticize he should try not to be guilty of the very things he's basing his criticism on.