Update 10/24/2019

Here are some habits of people with ‘beautiful minds’ by Simon Kuper of the Financial Times:

* They treat every situation as a learning opportunity.
* They can clear their mind to see the other person.
* They often suffer anguished boredom in ordinary social life.
* They are specialists, yet are always trying to master other fields.
* They gather insights from many different realms.
* They do the work they want to do, not the work the world seeks to impose on them.
* They have the imagination to come up with ideas, but also the humility and technique to test these against data.
*They say what they think is true, not what’s socially appropriate or lucratively controversial, or conventional wisdom or beneficial to their political side.

Sen. Chuck Schumer failed yesterday in his attempt to nullify IRS rules that barred New York, New Jersey, and several county and municipal governments from creating ways to circumvent federal tax laws regarding the deductibility of state and local taxes (SALT) that some have estimated have eroded over $1 TRILLION in home equity. Schumer tried to invoke the Congressional Review Act, which gives Congress the ability to rescind federal regulations with a majority Senate vote within 60 days of the regulation’s approval. Schumer only managed to get 43 Senate votes.

U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said he opposed allowing the tax-credit programs because they would provide tax loopholes for high-income earners.
The state Department of Taxation and Finance estimated that New York taxpayers impacted by the cap would pay an additional $14.3 billion in federal taxes this year.