Print Column: I Hope Rush Limbaugh Is Wrong, but I Don’t Think He Is
MINOT, N.D. — We haven’t had a governing majority in the federal government committed to fiscal prudence in a long, long time.
We have had lots of politicians who like to posture themselves as fiscal hawks. Former North Dakota U.S. Sen. Kent Conrad did that, though he started his career in the U.S. Senate by bailing on a vow not to run for re-election absent a balanced budget.
He did run for re-election, only for the Senate seat vacated by deceased Sen. Quentin Burdick, a deft maneuver allowing him to get around his promise.
He then spent years and years continuing to tout himself as a budget boffin even as the Senate Budget Committee, under his leadership, produced one budget after another with deficits.
He was a hypocrite, but in good company while in Congress. Because they’re mostly all hypocrites.
