"Deficit Hawk" Ends His Career Voting For Bigger Deficits

Two members of North Dakota’s congressional delegation ended their tenures in Washington DC this week. I wrote about Rep. Rick Berg earlier this week, who used his last vote to oppose the “fiscal cliff” deal.

It’s interesting to contrast Berg’s last vote with Senator Kent Conrad’s last vote. The self-described “deficit hawk” gave his final remarks on the floor of the US Senate talking about the “fiscal cliff” deal (video below), and admitted that “what we have passed is definitely not a deficit reduction measure.”

That’s an interesting admission. Conrad is right. The fiscal cliff deal wasn’t a deficit reduction bill. In fact, it was a bill that grows the deficit, by nearly $4 trillion according to the CBO.

Which means that Kent “Deficit Hawk” Conrad went down doing what he does best, which is complain about deficits even as he votes for bigger deficits.

Nor was it just the “fiscal cliff” vote that had Conrad helping to explode deficits on his way out the door. Conrad also voted for the Hurricane Sandy relief bill that was chock-full of pork spending that have nothing to do with the hurricane.

It’s a grim end for a man who went to the Senate vowing to reduce deficits.

Good riddance.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PUxtXULLrSI&w=640&h=480]