So-called "progressives" actively wage war on progress. . . . Ultimately, progressives are at war with mass prosperity. Mark Steyn More Quotes by Mark Steyn More Quotes From Mark Steyn When you're taxing bovine flatulence emissions, there's nothing left to tax. Mark Steyn flatulence bovine taxes Obama's Nobel Peace Prize is an exquisite act of condescension from Norwegians, a dog biscuit and a pat on the head to the American hyperpower for agreeing to spay itself into a hyperpoodle. Mark Steyn nobel-peace-prize biscuits dog The most basic of conservative principles is that if you reward bad behavior you get more of it. Mark Steyn rewards conservative principles The senator's actions in the hours and days after emerging from that pond tell us something ugly about Kennedy the man. That he got away with it tell us something ugly about American public life. Mark Steyn ponds ugly men Unchecked, government social programs are a security threat because they weaken the ultimate line of defense: the free-born citizen whose responsibilities are not subcontracted to the government. Mark Steyn defense government responsibility [To] the progressive mind, the very concept of "the enemy" is obsolescent: there are no enemies, just friends whose grievances we haven't yet accommodated. Mark Steyn just-friends mind enemy We immigrants can sometimes sound a little hysterical about this because we come from places that have tried this and we know where it leads. Anybody who's lived in countries with socialized health care knows that it becomes the dominant political issue. Mark Steyn issues political country One lesson of Sept. 11 is that a government that tries to do everything is likely to do most of it badly. Mark Steyn lessons government trying When nuclear weapons were an elite club of five relatively sane world powers, the Left was convinced the planet was about to go ka-boom any minute, and the handful of us who survived would be walking in a nuclear winter wonderland. Now anyone with a few thousand bucks and an unlisted number in Islamabad in his Rolodex can get a nuke, and the Left couldn't care less. Mark Steyn wonderland winter numbers The salient feature of America in the Age of Obama is a failed government class institutionally committed to living beyond its means, and a citizenry too many of whom are content to string along. Mark Steyn government ignorance mean Only in America does 'health' 'care' 'reform' begin with the hiring of 16,500 new IRS agents tasked with determining whether your insurance policy merits a fine. Mark Steyn irs agents america Appeasement is a vote to live in the present tense, to hold the comforts of the moment. Mark Steyn vote moments comfort Long before they slump into poverty, great powers succumb to a poverty of ambition. Mark Steyn slumps ambition long We're on the brink of a world in which the wealthiest nations, from Canada to Norway to Japan, can barely project meaningful force to their own borders while the nickel 'n' dime basket-cases go nuclear. Mark Steyn japan political meaningful Alternatively, suppose Qaddafi winds up hanging from a lamppost in his favorite party dress. If you're a Third World dictator, what lessons would you draw? Qaddafi was the thug who came in from the cold, the one who (in the wake of Saddam's fall) renounced his nuclear program and was supposedly rehabilitated in the chancelleries of the West. He was a strong partner in the war on terrorism, according to U.S. diplomats. And what did Washington do? They overthrew him anyway. Mark Steyn party strong war The long-term cost of a welfare society is the infantilization of the population. Mark Steyn population cost long Hollywood gave us far more Muslim terrorists in the Eighties and Nineties than it has since 9/11. Mark Steyn muslim-terrorists hollywood film If the IMF is correct (a big if), China will be the planet's No.1 economy by 2016. That means whoever's elected in November next year will be the last president of the United States to preside over the world's dominant economic power. Mark Steyn political mean years For Al Gore and Paul Ehrlich and Co., whatever the problem, the solution is always the same. Whether it's global cooling, global warming, or overpopulation, we need bigger government, more regulation, higher taxes, and a massive transfer of power from the citizens to some unelected self-perpetuating crisis lobby. Mark Steyn government self needs It is surely only a matter of time before some federal judge finds the Constitution unconstitutional. Mark Steyn constitution judging matter