Conservatives have been fighting a long and lonely fight for the idea of balancing the federal budget without raising the tax burden on the American people. Conservatives have also been fighting to repeal ObamaCare. Sadly, some are too timid to take these fights to liberals in Congress.

The tea party was created to oppose big government. Government-growing ideas include the massive spending plans proposed by the Obama Administration, as well as the unacceptable levels of spending accumulated during the Bush administration. We have accumulated $15.3 trillion in debt as a nation because our government is too big. And ObamaCare has proven to be an oppressive mandate on the American people not envisioned by our Founders.

The American people are not going to be motivated to vote for politicians who are apprehensive about cutting spending and repealing oppressive laws.

The Ryan budget

In the House, conservatives are fighting for a Fiscal 2013 budget that balances in 10 years. The budgets rolled out by Congress are measured in 10-year windows, and conservatives are demanding that any budget promoted by House Republicans must balance in 10 years. This would prove that a party that has promoted the idea of a Balanced-Budget Amendment to the Constitution can write a balanced budget.

House Republicans are expected to debate and pass a budget for the next fiscal year, then send it to the Senate in the next few months. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has already said he won’t allow a vote on a House-passed budget, nor a budget drafted by the Democrat-controlled budget committee this year. The Senate has not passed a budget in three years. Liberals in the Senate are so incompetent that they’re not expected to even try to pass a budget this year.

Repeal ObamaCare

The House and Senate are working on measures to repeal elements of and some results of ObamaCare.

Take the Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB). Last week a House committee passed H.R. 452, a bill by Rep. Phil Roe (R-Tenn.) that would repeal President Obama’s healthcare rationing board. The House is expected to pass this bill very soon.

The Senate last week debated and considered legislation by Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) that protects the rights of organizations to provide and purchase government-mandated healthcare coverage that is consistent with an organization’s religious beliefs and morality. The Obama administration’s implementation of ObamaCare would mandate that Catholic institutions would have to pay for abortion-inducing drugs as part of healthcare coverage.

These partial-repeal bills should not stop the House and Senate from forcing votes on a full repeal of ObamaCare every few weeks. Nothing in the Senate’s rules prevents leaders in the Senate from forcing partial- and full-repeal votes on ObamaCare right up to the next election.

Another bailout

Fannie Mae is asking for $4.6 billion to cover losses. It reported $2.4 billion in losses over the last three months of 2011. According to the AP, taxpayers have already bailed out Fannie and Freddie to the tune of $150 billion — and they’re back for more. Congress still has done nothing to solve the problems causing taxpayers to subsidize bad home loans given to individuals who are not going to pay off their debts.

Andrew Hurwitz nomination

President Obama’s nomination of Andrew D. Hurwitz to be a justice on the notoriously liberal 9th Circuit Court of Appeals is one step closer to Senate approval. The appeals court is a heartbeat away from the Supreme Court and any nomination to a circuit court should be taken seriously by senators. Hurwitz, now on the Arizona Supreme Court, is an outspoken defender of the activist ideology behind the Roe v. Wade conclusion. He is a proud judicial activist who would engage in legislating from the bench.

Many legal experts credit Hurwitz with helping to craft the justification for Roe v. Wade. Hurwitz was a clerk to Connecticut U.S. District Court Judge Jon Newman, who authored a 1972 opinion that was one of the bases of the Supreme Court’s Roe decision. Hurwitz has been credited with much of the legal research behind Roe. The Senate Judiciary Committee approved his nomination on a 13-to-5 vote last week and a Republican filibuster is expected this week.

Andrew Breitbart, RIP

Andrew Breitbart died last week. He was a good man and a happy warrior for freedom. The conservative movement is going to miss his energy and his aggressive nature. He was willing to take the fight directly to the left. Andrew’s legacy will live on.

Brian H. Darling is a senior fellow at the Washington-based Heritage Foundation.