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The House cleared legislation early Wednesday morning to raise the debt limit through next year's midterm elections, staving off an unprecedented federal default just in time for the deadline set by the Treasury Department.
Climate change already has hurt the U.S. economy and is expected to do even more damage in the years ahead unless American policymakers join the world in trying to mitigate its worst effects, according to a new congressional report. The findings by the Democrats on the Joint Economic Committee are neither new nor surprising, but they do add another voice to the chorus that has spelled out in ever-increasing detail the dangers of a warmer planet. "These changes will cost lives, force waves of human migration across the globe, upend insurance markets, and have dire consequences for the American economy," noted the authors of the 10-page report. "The Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond projects that climate change could reduce annual economic growth in the United States by one third over the next century."
The previous Republican tax bill has been criticized for a number of things, including primarily helping the rich and costing $2.3 trillion. Last month Salon spoke with Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., ranking member of the Joint Economic Committee, about how the bill makes it easier for companies to send jobs overseas, even though President Donald Trump campaigned in 2016 on not offshoring American jobs.
Wednesday’s report comes on the heels of a separate report by Democrats on the congressional Joint Economic Committee last week warning that the Republicans’ proposed cuts in the fiscal year 2019 budget, in the amounts of $1.5 trillion to Medicaid and Obamacare tax credits and $537 billion to Medicare over the next decade, could result in additional financial burdens for beneficiaries. While the budget is still awaiting a final vote, Democrats warn that the cuts would cost beneficiaries an extra $3,000 a year per household.