By CARL MUMPOWER

Though few would claim the badge, most Americans are dedicated socialists. That label is not being tossed as a personal insult. It’s just a simple statement of fact. The dictionary defines socialism as, “Governmental ownership and administration of the means of production and distribution of goods.” That doesn’t mean a proletariat rep has to be sitting in every business. If you make all the rules, regulate with a heavy hand, control the legal system, manipulate the currency, and rig the tax code, then you’re in charge.  If that you happens to be the government, then socialism is the game. To the extent the majority elected Obama, a socialist by declaration, definition, and deed, then we can assume enthusiasm for his policies and practices. So what should conservatives do? Get educated, stay engaged, turn on the lights, resist the nonsense, and press on toward the antidotes to socialism – reality, reason, responsibility and right.

More gun control hysterics

For a crystal clear view of the immorality of political gun phobics, take a quick look at our government’s double standards.  They’re ordering ammo by the billions but seek to limit our access.  They work in buildings with screening systems, armed security, and restricted access, but our home should be happy with pepper spray and “911” on speed dial.  They get to carry a gun or carry a guy around who carries a gun and we’re supposed to pretend nothing is wrong?  If our police departments, court houses, and other building are set-up like fortresses, why are we supposed to just smile and pretend all is OK?  What they’re doing is the sinking ship equivalent of the crew pushing passengers aside to climb on board the lifeboats.  At a time when our world is getting more dangerous there are many seeking to disarm us.  Noticing that this “us” does not include “them” tells us all we need to know.

On budget cuts

Like any force fueled by vanity, government bureaucrats and elected officials tend to believe they’re indispensible. Having painted themselves into a corner with the sequester plan, they are now being forced to actually make some spending cuts. Before conservative thinkers get too excited, if every reduction in place happens, the impact on our accumulating debt will be minimal. Still, all good things start small, so we’re happy to see something happen – even if it is unfolding like a circus act. You can look for Uncle Sam and Company to do everything they can to make us feel guilty and afraid of reducing their play money. They’ll cut back in the most visible way. Like Obama’s reduction of illegal immigration enforcement days before the deadline and the termination of White House tours last week.  One thing you can bet won’t be on the chopping block are campaign and pleasure trips on Air Force One.

2 peas in a socialist pod

Like most despotic socialists, on his exit Hugo Chavez left a mess. Similar to another seductive personality you might know here it home, Mr. Chavez relied on populism as a source of power.  Populism is nothing more than pandering to a chosen victim group to cultivate mascots. In Chavez’s case he pitted the poor against the rich and generated great loyalty from those he pretended to uplift. If that scenario reminds you of anything, it may be the language used by our President to divide us along similar lines.  Chavez ran his show on oil money. Our President is running his on borrowed money. Both are short-cuts to power, not a future.  Chavez leaves a country in a mess.  Robbing Peter to Pay Paul to get power does that.  Hugo Chavez was a bombastic political opportunist.  His scam is unfolding into chaos.  When the bills come due, his kindred socialist spirit in the U.S. will inherit a similar legacy.

Lindsey G and John M….

Oh, golly. Rand Paul has tarnished the dignity of the U.S. Senate. In doing so he has secured the wrath of his colleagues, and fellow Republicans, South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham and Arizona Senator John McCain. One of the first clues of a lack of dignity is the loud defense of dignity. Crooks, political or otherwise, do not like being caught. Lindsey and John are talking dignity about a group that can’t spell the word “principle,” perfects agitation as a substitute for action, and stands for little beyond preserving their own power and mascot base. Rand Paul had the courage to creatively call his colleagues and President out. He stood for something and made Lindsey and John uncomfortable.  Good.  As opportunistic RINO politicians they should be made uncomfortable.  It remains that come the next election we’ll likely vote for them as the lesser of evils. We should remember that the operative word of that equation is still “evil.”

On walking that talk….

The list of principle driven Republicans in Washington is very short. Former Texas Representative Ron Paul was one of those guys.  Under almost all circumstances there was a match between what he said he believed and his voting record. Now comes his son – Rand Paul.  Senator Paul was the guy who had the courage to irritate his RINO colleagues and the President all in one action by his extended filibuster on domestic drones. He was right.  Death from above by our own administration is not something Americans should fear.  He turned the lights on and put a burr in the Obama administration’s easy chair. As an elected official from Kentucky, he also did another unprecedented thing – returning a half-million in operating expense dollars to the U.S. Treasury. And he’s going to do it again this year. That’s walking your talk in big way. That kind of character merits encouragement.

On the paper Obama….

For Patriots looking for a little ammo to excite Obama mascots, Mitch McConnell has given you a gem. His office just printed out all 20,000 pages of ObamaCare regulations.  Stacked, that pile was over seven feet tall. For another tidbit, consider the draft application for benefits – that’s 15 pages long.  When our government’s driving priority is the expansion of regulations, laws, and tax policies devoted to control, that means we have a socialistic government. In truth we reached that tipping point sometime ago. It’s just that now we have a President openly flaunting his socialistic agenda in every way but one.  He doesn’t directly call himself a socialist for the same reason a prostitute doesn’t usually call herself a hooker.  What you do, not what you say or call yourself, is the mark of the man.  President Obama’s stack of papers has marked him as a socialist. That same stack will soon be marking us too.

On rewarding failure….

 At most levels of our culture there is a trend that bodes poorly for our future – entitlement and failure are being rewarded more than performance. That’s bad, because Mother Nature makes one thing perfectly clear – opportunity does not exist without accountability and productivity. For an alternative model that works, consider Singapore. They pay their political leaders well, but they expect something in return. We pay our leaders well too, but we keep electing people who perform poorly. The result for Singapore – there economy is thriving.  When it doesn’t their leaders get a pay cut to match their failure. Singapore has a 2% unemployment rate, loans instead of borrows, and refuses to print money as a pretend solution to economic misery. Our situation is, well, 180 degrees in the other direction. Our increasing willingness to reward failure is a big part of why.

On learning from Cyprus….

 What happened in Cyprus this week is earth-shaking. A sovereign nation surrendered control over its economy, governance authority, and identity in exchange for a 10 billion Euro bail-out. They created their own mess, but the impacts are far reaching. Their Euro deal involves closing the second largest bank in the country. That’s saying something when that country is a notorious depository for off-shore accounts. A large number of depositors from Russia and the UK are going to regret sending their money to Cyprus. Most of what was uninsured is likely to be swallowed up in what amounts to a national bankruptcy. That’s tough, but the worst is yet to come. People with money are going to figure out if it can happen there, it can happen anywhere. Rich investors don’t like becoming poor investors – these folks are going to start pulling resources from banks everywhere. That domino’s fall will lead to others.  Hold onto your pocketbook.  Events in Cyprus are going to touch us all.

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 Carl Mumpower, a former member of Asheville City Council, may be contacted at drmumpower@thecandidconserva>tive.com