Democratic strategist and CNN contributor Paul Begala participated in a debate with The Daily Caller's Tucker Carlson at the Conservative Political Action Conference this Thursday. He actually got in some good shots at Carlson when he called out the Republicans' hypocrisy with their carping about our debt and deficit.

BEGALA: Let me quote a conservative hero, Dick Cheney, who said Ronald Reagan taught us that deficits don't matter. As he was about everything, Dick Cheney was wrong. He was wrong then and he's wrong now. Of course deficits matter, but any one of you who supported the Bush tax cuts, the Bush war in Iraq, or the Bush prescription entitlement plan, has no business talking about debt. Now sit down, shut up and let the grown ups handle it.

You're welcome. I helped Bill Clinton balance the budget and build a surplus -- why? Because we had good economic times. In good economic times you pay down the deficit, as Clinton did, but Reagan did not and Bush did not. In bad times, you do have to stimulate in the near term, as thank God President Obama is doing.

But any of you who caused this deficit, this debt and deficit... no, no. You forgot the rule. You have to hush up if you supported creating the deficit. It's like listening to lectures on hygiene from Typhoid Mary.

For the most part, this debate of theirs was a good reminder of why Crossfire is no longer on the air and left me pining for Jon Stewart to intervene.