roman was here and, of course, he has been working on these two big trailed -- trade deals, tpp and tpi theith europe. my question is whether afl-cio has found itself supportive of any of the big trade deals that we have done, and if not, what would it take for you to be supportive of any trade deal? and what would it take for you to be supportive of these trade deals? >> first of all, we have supported some trade deals. they have not been many, because most, if not all, of the trade agreement have been fashion on the nafta model. even its creators and a couple of others have said it failed. they were supposed to raise living standards on both sides of the border. they haven't. living standards in all three countries have stagnated or dropped. they were supposed to increase our trade outland. we went from a surplus to a deficit. it was supposed to create jobs and we have lost jobs. as long as it is predicated on a nafta model, which is a failed model, it will be difficult. when tpp came up, we submitted over 300 recommendations. i don't know how many of those are going to get through and ma

is a nonprofit, nonpartisan think tank that focuses on the economics of innovation. tpi takes no institutional positions so this testimony , reflect only my views. the key question when pending the merger is whether the expecting efficiencies gained from combining the third and fourth largest wireless firms outweigh the possibility that the combined firm could address competition. this merger involves more than the usual level of uncertainty because it involves a nascent technology just beginning to be deployed. because we know so little about 5g, claims regarding optimal market structure are speculative and difficult to evaluate. second, empirical literature evaluating 4-3 wireless mergers is inconclusive. some find the prices increase, decreased, ands some find the prices did not change. third, the uncertainty of new technology and lack of evidence that 4-3 mergers cause harm, means the government has all basis for blocking the merger. fourth, because t-mobile and sprint may -- and i just authorities may consider the effects of the merger on the groups. the companies a

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the paint department. unfortunately, that plant closed in 2007. when tpi came in 2008, i was fortunate to be one of the first employees. i have been here since june, as in the maintenance department. i am proud to work care. i am glad the president is here today. he will help push an extension for tax credits. it will help our business and hundreds of families right here. >> please join me in welcoming the 44 president of the united states, mr. barack obama. [applause] >> hello, iowa. well. it is good to be back in newton. it has been awhile. it is good to be back in iowa. it brought back memories. of a lot of driving. [laughter] i just had a great tour of this facility. it people have chairs, feel free to sit down. some of you may not have seats. a want to make everybody comfortable. but to not worry. i will not talk about long. i do not want to give that impression. i just had a wonderful tour of this facility. i was telling some of the folks, we could not take the helicopter in because the winds were too strong so you are definitely in the right busines

we're just beginning to understand the real impacts of tpi and then at the other piece i think that,d i would ask for your help on this is how do we work with other committees here, secretary gates, secretary shinseki have certainly set the standard shoulder-to-shoulder that both defense and va need to work this together, because many of these people transition certainly from the defense department to va, and i really believe it's got to be a three-part team including communities throughout the country. how do we ensure those who sacrifice so much receive the care across this entire continuum, and we understand their need, which changes over time and it's those who suffered greatly in uniform but also family whose also have been under great stress as well. so that would be the third piece that i would add to the secretary's answer. >> ieds remain the number one cause of casualties in afghanistan, mr. secretary. the administration recently announced the deployment of 30,000 additional u.s. troops to afghanistan. as a result, more of our men and women will be exposed and vulnerable to

roman was here and , of course, he has been working on these two big trailed -- trade deals, tpp and tpi thewith europe. nfluestion is whether the -- the afl-cio has found itself supportive of any of the big trade deals that we have done, and if not, what would it take for you to be supportive of any trade deal? and what would it take for you to be supportive of these trade deals? >> first of all, we have supported some trade deals. they have not been many, because most, if not all, of the trade agreement have been fashion on the nafta model. even its creators and a couple of others have said it failed. they were supposed to raise living standards on both sides of the border. they haven't. all threendards in countries have stagnated or dropped. they were supposed to increase our trade outland. we went from a surplus to a deficit. it was supposed to create jobs and we have lost jobs. as long as it is predicated on a nafta model, which is a failed model, it will be difficult. up, we submitted over 300 recommendations. i don't know how many of those are going to get through and make it to the o

or, is it a series of technological changes, where the presence of digital piracy, which we talked about in past tpi conferences, is actually causing havoc with all of the revenue models of these industries. and where, is it possible that the stuff that kelly talked about last night, where we are moving from a model where you have a scarce set of broadcast plots and scarcity associated with shelf space to a world where that is not scarce anymore. what is scarce is customer attention. and, where you have a set of distributors to -- who have their own source of market power who are starting to rise up in the global scale. they are starting to collect customer data and use that to manage and mediate customer attention. could that series of changes the enough to change 100 years of structure and this industry? like i say, the correct answer is "i don't know." the longer i look at this, the more i start to wonder if the answer could be "yes." and whether there might be specific things people and the industry could do to respond to that as well. with it that, given that my answer is "i don't know" -- i gu

we're just beginning to understand the real impacts of tpi and then at the other piece i think that,d i would ask for your help on this is how do we work with other committees here, secretary gates, secretary shinseki have certainly set the standard shoulder-to-shoulder that both defense and va need to work this together, because many of these people transition certainly from the defense department to va, and i really believe it's got to be a three-part team including communities throughout the country. how do we ensure those who sacrifice so much receive the care across this entire continuum, and we understand their need, which changes over time and it's those who suffered greatly in uniform but also family whose also have been under great stress as well. so that would be the third piece that i would add to the secretary's answer. >> ieds remain the number one cause of casualties in afghanistan, mr. secretary. the administration recently announced the deployment of 30,000 additional u.s. troops to afghanistan. as a result, more of our men and women will be exposed and vulnerable to

here are the downstream effects on tax revenues. >> i would like tpi up on the chief justice's questions on statorax. i think you said earlier what was congress in 2003 supposed to do? in terms of advance authorizatio of course, they could have in 2003, referred to loan cancellation a ln forgiveness andho are not in the statutory text. th leaves us with the siatn that i think we have seen before, in the general language, congress specicay considering the present issue but not, as you acknowledge, passing giation that would authorize the specific action. in the we of congress not auoring the action, doing a massive, new program. that seems problematic under, going back to thbeene case so why does this case not fit into that formula that we have seen bore in prior cases? there was a lot packed there and i want to respond to each of the considerations. i think down the line, this case is a far cry from those higher situations. you mentioned the idea of taking an old statute and pressing it into service. i don't think that ia ir characterization of misuse of the heroes act. the whole of this

these are not the kinds of activities that i think any of us would think a president needs to engage inn der to fulfill his article two duties and in particular a case like this one. i want tpi up something the coursa earlier about a public official acting to achieve public ends. and a public official acting to achievate ends. applied to this case, the president has no functio wh respect to the certification of the winner of the presidential election. it seems likely that the fra designed the constitution that way because at the time of the founding presidents had no two term limit, they could run again and they were expected potentially to want to do that. the potential for self-interest would explaithe states conduct ections, they send electors to certify who won the elections and to provide votes, and then congress i extraordinary joint session certifies the vote. the president doesn't have an official role in that proceeding it is difficult for me to understand how there could be a serious constitutional question about saying you can't use to defeat that function, you can't obstructed through deception, you can't pre millions of voters of their right to have their vote c

the state constitution, right? i mean, if it's a lawmaking function that we're tpi into, it's the state constitution that gives that entity its lawmaking pernd tells it when and under what circumstances and how it can act as the legislaturerit? general prelogar: exactly. and this is blackletter law, justice jackn. a law that violates the constitution is no valid law at all. and north carolina, like in many other places, it's void ab initio. th is the kind of constraint that goes into and describeshe conditions that attach to the making of law in their place. justice jackson: so, in effect it's as though the state court is saying you are not "the legislature" for the purpose of the electionclse. general prelogar: within the meaning of the elections clause -- justice jackson: yes. general prelogar: -- yes, because that's a lawmaking role, we think that the framers would have understood that it' carrying with it that constraint. and that traces directly from the articles of conferion because they similarly prescribed this kind of function on state legistus to provide for the manner of selecting delegates to the contin

-- i reported it turned out tpi received much more of their funding from private equity, which president obama has been attacking, and through government subsidies. during the speech, president obama was criticizing companies that received tax benefits who send jobs offshore. it turns out tpi has three factories abroad. that should have been a huge story. nobody picked up on it. it went nowhere. i cannot figure out why some things are right blow up and some things -- i write blow up in some things do not go anywhere. i want to address the specific case he cited. my dad was a correctional officer for many years in maryland. i have great concern over putting people in prison who commit somewhat minor offenses and turning them into real criminals. i think that is a major problem. i have written about it at a daily column. you will find a lot of conservatives and libertarians- leaning conservatives, bill buckley supported the decriminalization of marijuana. there is known about the drug epidemic is horrible, but i think it is -- there is no doubt that the drug epidemic is horrible, but when you put people in these institutions to turn them into real criminals.

so, -- a new report of the stigma that we attach to ptsd and tpi, and not just our veterans, but in our active- duty troops. it, this is a major, major problem that we have been -- past the graveyard on. if we could treat, perfectly, we still aren't allowed to diagnosed active-duty troops, lest we ruin their careers. and we don't have time for you to comment on that. but i am glad you brought it up. >> if i could, i would like to say one thing about it. >> with the chairman's permission. >> one of the things that we found in testing. one of the things that was brought up by the va, is that that's what they want to wear a hero track, because it would cause a stigma, just for them wearing a device. but, because it is an apple watch, it makes them cool. >> the stigma has been removed. >> and ever, they are getting help that they would not ordinarily get. so, we are very aware of stigma in our organization, in the vets that we service. you have got to find creative ways to get around it. >> thank you very much. >> you bet. >> gathering general information that is good for health and well-be

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the world. american companies reach a global market with apps. they make life easier and faster with artificial intelligence and cloud services. at tpi, we use cloud services for big data analysis. i'm amazed by how much computing power we can access today. our team of researchers can access world-class servers and only paid are the minutes that we use. the big data projects would have been impossible just a few years ago without these advances. but these advances come with new policy challenges. regarding privacy, the economists question whether firms underinvest in data protection relative to some socially optimal level. if data breaches harm customers and firms are not period venting -- preventing those harms then , there might be room for intervention. but even if harms exists, regulators must be careful to do no harm themselves. regulations have real cost and benefits to the economy. it's important to remember that with any new regulation firms , will still behave strategically around the rules. firms will use regulations to benefit themselves and hurt competitors. regulation can have unintended newequences, disadvantage entries

committee for the purpose of investigating the existing medical science and procedures, as well as researching alternative methods for treating veterans suffering from tpind ptsd. recent studies have shown that medical marijuana is a viable option for treating pain, inflammation, autoimmune diseases, as well as other illnesses. the american legion believes additional research is needed to determine if there are medical benefits from using medical marijuana as an appropriate treatment for veterans. through resolution 11, medical marijuana research, the american legion supports increased research into cannabis as a treatment in therapy. what can the american legion do? call on congress to reclassify medical marijuana by removing it from schedule one and reclassifying it in a category that, at a minimum, will recognize cannabis as a drug with potential medical value, as well as urge congress to provide funding to the v.a. for medicine in treating various illnesses and disabilities and to pass legislation that would improve the pain management policies of dod nva -- dod and v.a. expand caregivers. there are 5.5 million caregivers who are caring for veterans

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tpi ptsd. now, you may still be administratively discharged, but when you leave you will leave with paper that allows you to get help through the v.a., through the systems we got out there in place. help,ing a bigger view of we have revamped the physical fitness test, making them more realistically aligned with the jobs we do. trying to promote healthier lifestyles through a culture of fitness and better nutrition. part of taking care of sailors and marines is making it easier for them to take care of themselves and their families. have made career class are a lot more flexible. one example that we just dramatically expanded is the career mission program. you can take up to three years off. you os 241 back but you can -- forowe us to for one -- two one back, but get a degree that you want that meet -- we may not be willing to pay for. when they return, they are not penalized. rather, they compete with those who are similarly situated. with extended childcare hours by two hours on each end and paid maternity leave from six weeks to 18 weeks. one of the things we are trying , a nation that draws too broad of the distinction betwe

the sum of all available income before deductions. and congress has not established a statutory definition for total positive income. so, let's have you clarify, what does tpi account for? does it allow charitable deduction? if you are gifted money, is it included in that? if you get an insurance settlement or an inheritance, is it included in that tpi? since that -- since there is that definition, and there is actual and taxable. where are we on this? mr. werfel: i think as a general rule you can assume that if it is income it is adding -- it is included in total positive income. what we are trying to do is give a bright line, an easy way to understand how to distinguish. we believe our commitments of only increasing audit scrutiny on those above $400,000 is a high enough amount where middle, low income people around the country can breathe easier knowing that they are likely never to -- sen. blackburn: my time has run out, but when you say general rule and assume, you know what happens when people end up going to court. so we are going to have to be more explicit. i will talk with you about it later. chair wyden: very good. next in order of appearance wou

the u.s. a. this initiative is good for middle-class families. it is good for our security. it is good for our planet. over 185 companies will receive these tax credit. one of them is tpi inc that is based in newton, iowa. because of these tax credits, they will not only be able to expand an existing facility in newton, they are not only be able to build a new facility in nebraska, i do also be able to hire over 200 new workers. it is my hope that similar stories will be told across america because of this initiative. this initiative has been so popular that we have a far more qualified applicants than we have been able to fund. we received requests from roughly three times as much in funding, some of 1 $6 billion, as we could provide. -- $7.6 billion, as we could provide. i have called for investing another $5 billion in this program, which will put even more americans to work right away building and equipping clean energy manufacturing here in the united states. in the letters that i receive that night -- as many of you know, i get about 10 letters a night that it again but at -- i also hear from americans are facing hard times. they lost their jobs and cannot afford

the u.s. a. this initiative is good for middle-class families. it is good for our security. it is good for our planet. over 185 companies will receive these tax credit. one of them is tpi inc that is based in newton, iowa. because of these tax credits, they will not only be able to expand an existing facility in newton, they are not only be able to build a new facility in nebraska, i do also be able to hire over 200 new workers. it is my hope that similar stories will be told across america because of this initiative. this initiative has been so popular that we have a far more qualified applicants than we have been able to fund. we received requests from roughly three times as much in funding, some of 1 $6 billion, as we could provide. -- $7.6 billion, as we could provide. i have called for investing another $5 billion in this program, which will put even more americans to work right away building and equipping clean energy manufacturing here in the united states. in the letters that i receive that night -- as many of you know, i get about 10 letters a night that it again but at -- i also hear from americans are facing hard times. they lost their jobs and cannot afford