The Huffington Post has published the results of a Freedom of Information Act inquiry into Rep. Michele Bachmann’s requests for federal funds for local projects. On a number of occasions, Bachmann has requested funds from programs and offices she publicly derides, including the stimulus bill and the Environmental Protection Agency. The idea is that the small-government conservative Bachmann, who has also benefited from federal housing assistance and Medicaid programs, is a hypocrite.

Hypocrisy is asserting a standard for everyone else, and then engaging in behavior contrary to that standard oneself. There is nothing hypocritical about maintaining that the stimulus shouldn’t have passed, or that the EPA should be abolished, and then making use of stimulus or EPA funds. In fact, one could easily make the case that Bachmann is obligated to make sure that those funds, once authorized by Congress to be spent, are used in the most efficient way.