Mr. Novak tells it all.

In routine party-line votes last week, both houses of Congress completed action on a Democratic-crafted budget containing the biggest tax increase in U.S. history. That this was overlooked attests to the legerdemain of Sen. Kent Conrad, chairman of the Senate Budget Committee.

Conrad, a 59-year-old third-termer from Bismarck, N.D., is a monotone orator whose use of statistical charts betrays his dozen years as a state tax collector. He seems so straight an arrow that it is hard to accuse him of the big lie. But that is precisely what he has done.

Conrad has repeatedly insisted his budget contains no higher taxes. But how, then, can it increase discretionary spending $200 billion over five years, while promising immense budget surpluses in the future? By raising taxes not only on upper-bracket earners but also on dividends and capital gains, affecting many more Americans.

Opinion