Hypocrisy by public officials is especially rank when ordinary Americans will pay for it for years to come. The stench coming now from the congressional Democratic “Blue Dog Coalition” – which bills itself first and foremost as “fiscally conservative” – is particularly offensive. The smell emanates from a Nov. 7 statement by prominent Blue Dog member Jim Cooper, D-TN: “I’m not sure the old rules are relevant anymore. It would be unfair to the new president to put him in a budget straitjacket.” Put otherwise, the Blue Dogs are willing to give President Obama a pass on spending discipline.

The “old rule” to which Cooper refers is the very one the Blue Dogs made the absolute center of their existence during George W. Bush’s presidency. Called “paygo” (short for “pay as you go”), the rule required that any spending increases or tax cuts be offset with spending decreases or tax hikes elsewhere in the federal budget for at least six years. The Blue Dogs used paygo repeatedly to try foiling tax reductions proposed by Bush, or to raise taxes to pay for new spending initiatives.