<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html charset=utf-8"></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space;" class="">The Economist <div class="blog-post__asideable-wrapper" style="font-family: EconSans, Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div class="blog-post__asideable-content--meta blog-post__asideable-content" style="display: flex; flex-wrap: wrap; -webkit-box-pack: justify; justify-content: space-between; border-top-width: 1px; border-top-style: solid; border-top-color: rgb(215, 215, 215); border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgb(215, 215, 215); padding-left: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; top: 62px;"><div class="blog-post__section-date-author" style="padding: 0.35em 0px; align-self: center; width: auto; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-right: auto;"><h3 class="blog-post__section" itemprop="articleSection" style="margin: 0px; color: rgb(18, 18, 18); font-size: 0.79012em; font-weight: 500; line-height: 1.34;"><a itemprop="url" class="blog-post__section-link" href="https://www.economist.com/blogs/democracyinamerica" style="transition: color 101ms ease, border-bottom-color; color: rgb(62, 81, 181); text-decoration: none;">Democracy in America</a> <span class="" style="color: rgb(122, 122, 122); font-size: 14.046600341796875px; letter-spacing: 0.21069900691509247px;">Nov 2nd 2017</span></h3><time class="blog-post__datetime" itemprop="dateCreated" datetime="2017-11-02T21:22:45Z" style="color: rgb(122, 122, 122); letter-spacing: 0.015em; line-height: 1.4; padding-right: 0.35em; float: left; display: block; font-size: 0.70233em;"><br class=""></time><div class="" style="color: rgb(122, 122, 122); letter-spacing: 0.015em; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px; float: left; font-size: 0.70233em;">by <span class="blog-post__byline" itemprop="author">H.C. | WASHINGTON, DC</span></div></div><div class="blog-post__sharebar" style="height: 55px; align-self: center; flex-wrap: wrap; display: flex; -webkit-box-align: center; align-items: center; padding-left: 0.35em; -webkit-box-pack: start; justify-content: flex-start;"><div class="share-component"><div class="share-component__icons" style="display: flex; -webkit-box-align: center; align-items: center;"><div class="share__icon share__icon--twitter" style="transition: opacity 0.2s; margin: 0px 15px 0px 0px !important;"></div><div class="share__icon share__icon--linkedin" style="transition: opacity 0.2s; margin: 0px 15px 0px 0px !important;"><br class=""></div></div></div></div></div></div><div class="blog-post__text" itemprop="description" style="color: rgb(18, 18, 18); margin-top: 1.45em; line-height: 1.6; position: relative; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p class="">1st 2 paragraphs <b class="">[bold added] </b>A DEBATE has raged this year about whether the Republican effort on taxes should be described as “tax reform”—which implies improving efficiency and fairness–or just “tax cuts”. </p><p class="">Parts of the tax bill released, at long last, by House Republicans on November 2nd are worthy of the first title. The tax bill aggressively takes on deductions in the individual income tax code, and channels the proceeds towards across-the-board cuts in income tax. Unfortunately, that good work is undone by expensive giveaways to the owners of firms, and unnecessary windfalls to the heirs of the rich. <b class="">As a result, the bill would saddle the economy with more debt, and could end up being a drag on growth.</b></p><p class="">Start with the good stuff. Republicans want to mostly scrap the state and local deduction, an unwarranted federal subsidy for states that levy high taxes <a href="https://www.economist.com/news/united-states/21730909-scrapping-state-and-local-tax-deduction-will-be-difficult-it-good" class="" style="transition: color 101ms ease, border-bottom-color; color: rgb(62, 81, 181); text-decoration: none; border-bottom-width: 2px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgb(62, 81, 181); padding-bottom: 1px;">(see article).</a> Displaying an admirable willingness to go after even popular tax breaks, they would curtail the deduction for mortgage <b class="">interest</b> payments, which <b class="">flows mostly to the rich and distorts the economy </b>towards housing. The deduction would be limited to $500,000 of mortgage borrowing, down from $1m today</p><div class="">Full article</div><div class=""><a href="https://www.economist.com/blogs/democracyinamerica/2017/11/bill-two-halves" class="">https://www.economist.com/blogs/democracyinamerica/2017/11/bill-two-halves</a></div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">As of now, the tax deduction for interest payments would remain in place for existing mortgages for high-end housing. All that, at least as I’ve seen it reported, would be grandfathered in. It’s any effect toward more affordable housing policy would affect only new mortgages, for less extravagant housing. Lance</div><div class=""><br class=""></div></div><div class="">
<div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;">===============================================<br class="">"All organisms live within a limited range of body temperatures."<br class=""><br class="">Hans O. Pörtner and Anthony P. Farrell. Physiology and Climate Change. </div><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;">SCIENCE 31 OCTOBER 2008<br class="">========================================================================================<br class="">“ … organisms have a physiological response to temperature, and these responses have important consequences."<br class=""><br class="">Anthony I. Dell, Samraat Pawar and Van M. Savage, Temperature dependence of trophic interactions are driven by asymmetry of species responses and foraging strategy.<br class="">Journal of Animal Ecology 2013<br class="">===================================================================================================<br class="">“Climate change impacts have now been documented across every ecosystem on Earth, despite an average warming of only ~1°C so far."</div><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;"><br class="">Scheffers et al. The broad footprint of climate change from genes to biomes to people. </div><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;">Science, 11 NOVEMBER 2016</div></div></div>
</div>
<br class=""></body></html>