Today is my 39th Easter. And it will always be my favorite Easter.

I have had some blessed ones in the past. Childhood memories of Easter baskets, corsages for mom, Gospel tunes at church… Memories of the Easter Parade along Monument Avenue in Richmond, Virginia – Easter bonnets and a throwback to an older time…

I remember the many Easter weekends that coincide with the azaleas blooming and the playing of the Masters Tournament in Augusta, Georgia – in particular, I recall Bernhard Langer professing his faith in Jesus Christ upon winning his 2nd Green Jacket on Easter Sunday in 1993.

And more recently, I fondly remember going to Easter sunrise service at Arlington National Cemetery with my wife and great patriot friends in Washington, DC.

But this year, Easter takes on a more special meaning as I sit here with my wife, my 2 ½ year old son and my 1 year old daughter listening to old Gospel tunes (insert rant here about lousy, modern, non-descript “praise music” sung by pointy-glasses wearing, black pants wearing, open-collared shirt wearing hipsters… but I digress) before we head out for the day.

I have not written on RedState for a very long time – in large part because last year I was diagnosed with Cancer… Hodgkins Lymphoma, to be more specific. I spent many months going through treatment, including a promising trial drug. As of today, I have now had 3 clear scans and am in “clinical remission.”

Today is my favorite Easter, indeed. Praise God.

I praise Him for his many blessings – the love of my family and friends. The pure joy of having my son tell me he “loves me too much,” or my daughter looking at me with her big blue eyes and saying “Da.” I praise Him for a wife whose devotion to me through “sickness and health” reminds me what a real promise before God truly means.

I also Praise Him for freedom. The care that I received through modern advances in healthcare at MD Anderson was truly amazing. And it is the product of free markets… an imperfect system, to be sure. But it is the product of freedom, not the musing of an arrogant tyrant in Washington who believes the state should tell us what to do. The state can only tell us what to do if we let it.

Jesus taught us much about love, forgiveness and doing unto others. But Jesus also taught us a lot about hypocrites, false prophets and supposed leaders who are full of it.

This Easter, I am thankful for all I have but also all that I must continue to do to “fight the fight, finish the race and keep the faith.” (see 2 Timothy 4:7).

* UPDATE, NBC “Apologizes” (Fairly pathetic one I might add – notice what is missing from the “apology?”): The NBC crew (I believe it was Dan Hicks) just announced that “We began our coverage of this final round just about 3 hours ago, and when we did, it was our intent to begin the coverage of this U.S. Open Championship with a feature that captured the patriotism of our national championship being held in our nation’s capital for the third time – regrettably a portion of the Pledge of Allegiance that was in that feature was edited out. It was not done to upset anyone. And, we would like to apologize to those of you who were offended by it.”

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Just as I thought that the primary reason a father who loves golf as much I do would have to boycott NBC Sports and it’s recently acquired Golf Channel is the inundation of frigging Viagra (and similar) commercials, the geniuses at NBC decided to use their considerable wisdom and virtue to edit the Pledge of Allegiance for the rest of us, for they consider us dupes.

This morning, before the final round of the United States Open – a Father’s Day tradition for golfers in this country and beyond, and arguably the most grueling test of golf in the world – NBC produced one of those little lead-in montages… You see, the Open is being played at historic Congressional Country Club in Bethesda, Maryland, right outside of Washington, DC, and the montage was a little patriotic deal showing pictures along with clips of kids reciting the Pledge of Allegiance. Only – the fine producers at NBC decided that it would be much better for the viewers not to be subjected to the phrase “under God,” not once – but twice.

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Many on the right are critical of the fawning over the Royal wedding ceremony for Prince William and his bride, Kate, broadcast around the globe today. They point to the American Revolution and our endeavors to shed the tyranny of the Crown, and they mock the stodginess of the Royals while noting the irony of several failed marriages among the recent crop from the House of Windsor – most notably, William’s parents.

But whatever one thinks of the Monarchy, in an increasingly pathetic MTV world – the ceremony today was extraordinary, and a good thing for the world to see. It was nothing short of impressive – timely, carried out with precision, dripping with military, christian and royal traditions. The music was magnificent – there were actual hymns rather than gaudy “praise music” rock bands, a church that looks like a church, and the participants and guests were dressed not just appropriately, but perfectly… The procession was extraordinary, with hand-sewn uniforms and white and black horses leading the carriages – the Union Jack lining the streets.

The event was broadcast to an estimated 2 billion people. And in my view – that is a good thing. It can hardly be bad – for whatever flaws of the people involved – to remind people through the broadcast of a high religious ceremony that Christ is Lord. It can hardly be bad to have 2 billion people hear a Christian reminder of the importance of marriage in furthering mankind. It can hardly be bad to remind people that for all its flaws, the Anglo-influence has indeed made the world a far better place. And it is hardly bad to remind people that tradition matters – that carrying ourselves the proper way matters.

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So, let me get this straight…

After all the back and forth, pledges, promises, tough fiscal talk and discussions of shutdown… Republicans have agreed to pass another short term CR with a few billion dollars in cuts – all being jammed through tonight by voice vote and basically sight-unseen (classic Washington transparency). This to get us to next week.

Then, Republicans are likely going to cut a deal for something around $40 billion max (likely upper-30′s) of cuts, and not uphold their own pledge to cut $100 billion (much less the smaller amount of $61 billion originally offered), and then fail to draw even the faintest line in the sand on policies (so-called “riders”) of any significance, such as federal funding of Planned Parenthood (i.e. tax dollars used to support the death of hundreds of thousands of babies annually) or Obamacare.

Oh sure, Republican leadership will hide behind some symbolic votes in the Senate (which can easily be gained through any real effort anyway) and behind supposedly “significant” cuts of $39 billion, or some such.

Keep in mind that our national deficit – not debt, mind you, but annual deficit – this year alone will surpass $1.5 Trillion, and thus, the $39 billion in cuts represents well less than 3% of the hole we are digging…

Meanwhile, Paul Ryan is praised as the Second Coming for writing a budget that adds $6-9 trillion in debt, fails to touch social security, and is still well out of balance and hemorrhaging hundreds of billions of dollars in 10 years… and more importantly, the Ryan budget won’t even ever be implemented – at least not until 2013, that is if Republicans can find a candidate worth running, much less capable of winning.

So now we move to raising the federal debt ceiling for the umpteenth time without any significant structural change toward fiscal responsibility. Should we expect anything other than cutting a “deal” for a vote on the BBA or some other gesture as opposed to passage of the BBA (with a spending limit)?

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Does anyone in Washington understand the concept of reading your job description and then doing your job? Apparently the esteemed members of the U.S. Senate – including both Republican and Democrat leadership – do not.

You see, they would rather have time to meddle further in the lives of Americans than in performing their constitutionally prescribed duty to advise and consent to Presidential nominees. As David Addington of the Heritage Foundation notes in Heritage WebMemo #3211, Senator Schumer has introduced S.679 and, along with 15 co-sponsors from both sides of the aisle, would like to reduce the number of Presidential appointments that require consent of the Senate while also establishing a “Working Group on Streamlining Paperwork for Executive Nominations” within the executive branch.

Addington properly dismisses this idea as detrimental to the Constitutional safeguard against the accumulation of power in one branch. In short -the idea is stupid and the result of busy-bodies who are too lazy to do their actual job effectively rather than coming up with yet another bill to tell us how to live our lives.

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Rumor has it that House GOP freshmen and the conservative Republican Study Committee (RSC) led by Jim Jordan beat the snot out of House Republican leadership and that the leadership is working on getting to $100 billion in cuts.

If that happens, it is great news – but there remains a big problem.

The problem is that by being so timid, Republicans are making their overall fight to cut spending all the more difficult. We all know that any cuts proposed will be painted by Democrats and a willing media as draconian and unfair. The poor will be out on the streets, food will be taken from children, etc…

That is why it was (and remains) so critical that Republican leadership get on the offensive immediately. They need to make the case for spending cuts, and that the $100 billion is nothing more than a first step of many more to come. To do otherwise means that we are going to just have more of the same – token cuts to pacify the base, or the Tea Party folks – but no real commitment to changing the culture of reckless spending that permeates Capitol Hill.

The American people gave Republicans license to cut – but Republicans will have to work very hard to do it and explain why it’s important as time goes on. The message is simple and goes something like this:

$100 billion is nothing more than a down payment as we begin the real task of getting our fiscal house in order. It reflects only about 7% of the $1.4 trillion deficit we have to close for starters… We cannot sustain this level of reckless spending and continue to mortgage the future of America. To do so continues to undermine our economy and will guarantee that the poor remain poor and that the jobless remain jobless. The government does not create jobs, the American people do. The government does not create wealth – it takes wealth. We promised to cut spending – and we are going to do just that. If President Obama and Senate Democrats want to stand in the way of fiscal responsibility, then they can answer to the American people.

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Congressional Republicans are breaking their pledge to cut spending “right now, not next year, but now.”

Yet, the editors of National Review today, while swooning over the latest budget proposal of Paul Ryan (R-WI), lauded the House GOP for an “actual honest-to-God reduction in federal outlays of $32 billion.”

How about we take a look at this with an honest-to-God perspective and the ability to check blind hope for supposed “conservative heroes” at the door?

1. Our national debt is over $14 trillion, climbing exponentially and heavily foreign-owned;
2. Annual spending has more than doubled over the last decade on the watch of both Republicans and Democrats – soon approaching $4 trillion per year – so any “actual cut” is a cut from ASTRONOMICAL spending;
3. Our nation has amassed (as NR’s Kevin Williamson noted last June) $106 trillion in unfunded liabilities (Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, etc…) and we have saved precisely $0 to pay for it just as Baby Boomers retire;
4. Republicans, supposedly recognizing all this, campaigned VERY SPECIFICALLY on cutting spending by returning to pre-bailout, pre-Obama binge levels (i.e. 2008) and doing it immediately; and
5. Non-security spending in 2008 was $378 billion. Non-security spending requested by Obama for 2011 is $478 billion. Paul Ryan’s budget would spend $420 billion. (see here )

So what to do? Praise, criticize or just take the day off and go hit some golf balls?

As much as the latter sounds appealing, Republicans have to be held accountable. They simply are not honoring their “pledge” to return to 2008 spending levels and thus, save $100 billion from the President’s budget. They are hiding behind the fact they will only get 7 months of the year to enact cuts. Yet, they were never vague about this. Consider the following comments from House GOP Whip and Ryan’s fellow self-proclaimed “Young Gun,” Kevin McCarthy, from the Sean Hannity show last September:

MR. HANNITY: … I guess the only question that I think some people may have is, and you have been addressing this, the idea that the contract worked, but then some Republicans lost their way. How does this document hold you accountable?

REP. MCCARTHY: … we lay out… in the Pledge to America that we are going to cut spending. We are going to do it right now, not next year, but now, where we roll them back to pre-stimulus, pre-bailout, save $100 billion right now.

So, to be clear, that was to “roll [spending] back to pre-stimulus, pre-bailout” “right now, not next year, but now…” Uh-huh.

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Many of us didn’t even like the Republican “Pledge” to America.

But there they were, those bastions of Republican leadership promising this and that (because what we need from politicians are more promises).

Well, they promised to save $100 billion in spending in the first year. But suddenly, they’re debating what the definiton of the word “year” is, and whether we should “annualize” the cuts or consider them pro-rated. They are talking about how much to save under a Continuing Resolution vs. what they meant under the Obama budget. Now, the “leadership” says, they are going to let the conservatives cut more by offering amendments. One news story is saying the leadership is going to cut $32 billion. A post over at National Review slobbers over conservative-genius-and-savior-in-waiting, Paul Ryan and his proposal that supposedly gets us $74 billion in non-defense cuts (which Dan Holler points out is actually $42 billion short here).

Only in Washington.

Just cut $100 billion. Just cut it. Do it. Really… just do it. You promised to return to pre-stimulus, pre-bailout spending (as a start) and to “save” $100 billion (a totally arbitrary number that sounds good on top 10 lists and other “messaging” pablum promoted by idiot Washingtonians). We didn’t promise to do that. You did. Now you just need to do it and shut the hell up about it.

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This morning, former Texas Solicitor General Ted Cruz announced via a blogger conference call that he is a candidate for the United States Senate.

This is great news. Really great news.

It is great news for those of us who recognize the need for new leadership in our nation, and the need to elect actual, proven, limited government, Constitution-respecting conservatives – especially from states like Texas.

The field is expected to be crowded, and there will be much more to say about this going forward. But, the simple truth is that there is absolutely no room for guesswork here. We must choose a Republican candidate with a proven track record of standing up and fighting for conservative principles.

This is no time for the Charlie Crists and Arlen Specters of the world. This is no time for “trusting” that someone is a conservative (think KBH, or perhaps David Souter comes to mind). This is no time for candidates who stand up and talk a big game about being conservative but don’t have a record of ever having actually stood up to fight.

The next U.S. Senator from Texas must not only proudly declare himself a conservative, but have the battle scars to show he is ready to go to Washington and fight to take our country back from the establishment.

Now, Ted can give a rousing speech to be sure and knows that it doesn’t do any good to have something important to say if you can’t get people to listen. But what makes Ted a truly remarkable candidate are two things: first, his deeply held and very well articulated belief in America and our need to stand up to defend her against the Obama agenda and the Washington establishment, and second, his extraordinary substantive record exhibited throughout his life, highlighted by his repeated fight for the Constitution and conservative principles as Solicitor General of Texas.

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We often focus our frustration on the Washington establishment – and for good reason. But state and local establishment is also very much alive and well. Texas, notwithstanding its generally conservative environment, is no exception.

The race for Texas Speaker of the House is a key test for newly elected Republicans in the state. Will they stand with the people of Texas or will they instead seek power for the sake of it, team up with the establishment and political consultants in Austin to keep it, and kiss the ring of liberal Republican (and incumbent Speaker) Joe Straus for powerful committee slots, instead of supporting the actual conservative in the race, Ken Paxton?

We may know the answer next Monday, January 10th, sometime after 1:30pm. That is when Republicans are scheduled to gather for a caucus meeting to discuss the Speaker position and to vote as a caucus to determine who Republicans think should be the Speaker.

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