Boots On The Ground

Vision Quest
At the Republican convention, for example, he (Paul Ryan) called the Obama administration’s economic vision “a dull, adventureless journey from one entitlement to the next, a government-planned life, a country where everything is free but us.” (NYT, 11/18/2012)

Wow! We had not heard this line from Paul Ryan. Now we like him even more.


Cloutless
Hamas, badly outgunned on the battlefield, appeared to be trying to exploit its increased political clout with its ideological allies in Egypt’s new Islamist-led government. The group’s leaders, rejecting Israel’s call for an immediate end to the rocket attacks, have instead laid down sweeping demands that would put Hamas in a stronger position than when the conflict began: an end to Israel’s five-year-old embargo of the Gaza Strip, a pledge by Israel not to attack again and multinational guarantees that Israel would abide by its commitments. (NYT, 11/18/2012)

Trying to change the conventional wisdom in warfare, Hamas increases its demands as it loses the military battle. 


Adjustment
Kristina Collins, a chiropractor in McLean, Va., said she and her husband planned to closely monitor the business income from their joint practice to avoid crossing the income threshold for higher taxes outlined by President Obama on earnings above $200,000 for individuals and $250,000 for couples.

Ms. Collins said she felt torn by being near the cutoff line and disappointed that federal tax policy was providing a disincentive to keep expanding a business she founded in 1998.

“If we’re really close and it’s near the end-year, maybe we’ll just close down for a while and go on vacation,” she said. Some business owners say they are holding off on hiring plans because they expect tax rates to rise.
 ....
Dyke Messinger, chief executive of Power Curbers in Salisbury, N.C., said he would like to fill four slots at his construction equipment company but would only hire three people because he anticipated that his tax bill would rise by $100,000.(NYT, 11/18/2012)

So apparently it turns out that Republicans are right. Tax policy shapes behavior. (We certainly appreciate the New York Times writing about these important issues...now that the election is over.)