chair wyden: thank you. mr. craig johnson. >> thank you for the opportunity to testify today regarding the south dakota versus wayfarer decision and allowing me to share what our member states have done to make implementation of the decision easier for remote sellers nationwide. i am executive director of the streamlined sales tax governing board, referred to as sst, make out -- made up of 24 states committed two simplification and uniformity. sst represents a collaboration between states, local governments and the business community to simplify taxes and level the playing field for sellers. the result is a streamlined sales and use tax agreement, a voluntary agreement that represents a blueprint for allstate to reduce the burden of tax compliance. in 2016, south dakota enacted legislation to require remote sellers who engaged in 200 or more transactions or who had one of the thousand dollars revenue in a calendar year, to collect and remit tax. the wayfarer decision determined remote sellers who exceeded south

a specific exchange you referenced in the book, a senate hearing with rob wyden, a democrat of oregon and james clapper about nsa spying. let's listen. [video clip] >> last summer, the nsa director was at a conference and asked a question about the nsa surveillance of americans. he replied, "the story that we have millions or hundreds of millions of dossiers on people is completely false." if you could give me a yes or no answer to the question -- does the nsa collect any type of data at all on millions or hundreds of millions of americans? >> no, sir. >> it does not? >> not wittingly. there are cases where they could inadvertently collect, but not wittingly. susan: that exchange blew up. can you tell me why? amy: it blew up because technically the answer director clapper gave was wrong. the nsa did have records of millions of americans, but the records were phone records. not the content of your calls, but the number you called and the time you called and the duration of the call. that was incredibly important, that moment, because senator wyden believed director clapper lied to him.

i'm glad that what senator wyden and senators are doing to schedule the hearing to work on this. i partnered on the tax credit to make sure that extremely low income renters don't have to pay more than 30% of their income towards housing and what happens in families like that everything is upside down when they are evicted. my first question for mr. roberts we have a lot of homes that can provide good affordable first generational opportunities. many of them some of you heard me on this committee as it could my wife and i lived in had more foreclosures in 2007 van any in america. when homeowners can't make the repairs themselves where they are snapped up by out-of-state investors the problems are evidence so how can the neighborhood and i know he referred to it to address the shortfall on single homes to keep those in the hands of aspiring homeowners. >> thank you senator for your leadership and everything you do in the banking committee is remarkable to see the comprehensiveness of your strategy. to fill the gap to build or rehab a home. it's not feasible for private developers

here is what senator ron wyden had to say. [video clip] >> we have heard some of our colleagues on the other side say this is going to target the working class. that is not going to happen. my colleagues on the finance committee know so well, working people are not the problem here. they pay taxes with every single paycheck. it is right there on their paycheck. everybody knows. what taxes they pay and should they be engaging in any questionable activity, it would in the showing up on these forms . they are not the problem. as we have been told again and again by independent experts, democrats, republicans and independents, we do have a problem with big, wealthy tax cheats. big, wealthy tax cheats don't pay taxes every single paycheck like firefighters and nurses. and after decades of republican budget cuts, we are now in very difficult position to go after these wealthy people who rip off a republican appointee estimated the number of taxes owed that are not collected could be as much as a trillion dollars per year. we believe

ron wyden and chris cox. what was the intention with this and what were the consequences? prof. gajda: this is at the dawn of the internet, even during floor discussion about the provision there was the suggestion legislators did not really understand what the internet was. in 1996 there was the suggestion in newspapers, newspapers would define the internet because people did not understand what it was. it was this giant file cabinet accessible to all of us was the way news stories described it. what happened in court was one of the websites had published a piece on a bulletin board. some member of the public had published a defamatory statement on a bulletin board. the person who was defamed sued the internet service provider. so in effect, the website owner. a court found all potential liability there. so congress is believing the growth of the internet was critically important to the nation's economy, decided to protect websites like prodigy that ran bulletin boards. so the idea was by enacting a law that protected the websites, websites would be able to go in and edit inform

has ron wyden warned this week, these are incendiary and increasingly dangerous an out of control conspiracies about the irs. look. republicans on the right broadly want you to believe that the irs has declared war on you when the truth is the day they declared war on the irs on behalf of their big donors. it's not the irs that financially was to screw you, it's the gop. coming up at the top of the hour with a man moylan. democratic congressman on his recent trip to taiwan. threats from china in response to republican attacks on law enforcement. that's all next on ayman. we'll be back in a moment. 'll be back in a moment. 5g network. but, they don't. they only cover select cities with 5g. and with coverage of over 96% of interstate highway miles, they've got us covered. i think i changed my mind about these glasses. yeah, it happens. that's why visionworks gives you 100 days to change your mind. it's simple. anything else i can help you with? like what? visionworks. see the difference. is it me or does everyone auditioning for this health insurance commercial look the same? it's not you. healt

senator ron wyden, chair of the finance committee, his staff managed to find $30 billion to plug the hole that was a problem yesterday and they had a huge part in writing the bill, a major achievement for him and democrats, many staffers have been working on this for over a year. judy: so many twists and turns in this story. that gives us a sense of the big picture. give us a sense for what this could mean for individual americans. lisa: so much to talk about and i think we will be talking about this a few days. for those on medicare, this could save a lot of money in terms of drug prices. it caps what can spend out-of-pocket on medicare at $2000, that is significant. i also will -- want to talk about the electric vehicle credit. in the bill, there is an extension of a tax credit to buy an electric vehicle, a new 1, 70 $500, that is off the price at the dealership. -- $7,500, that is off the price at the dealership. there is also a credit for used vehicles. this is not meant to be for luxury vehicles, but for more affordable electric vehicles. it would also limit it to individuals ma

another important face in all of this, senator ron wyden, the chair of the finance committee. his staff managed to find $30 billion to help plug that hole that was a problem yesterday, and his staff had a huge part in writing this bill, a really major achievement for him and democrats, who -- many staffers have been working on this for well over a year. judy: so many twists and turns in this story, lisa, as you said. so that does give us a sense of the big picture. also, give us a sense of what this could mean for individual americans. lisa: so much to talk to you about in this, and i think we're going to be talking about it on the show for a few days. but, obviously, for those on medicare, this could save a lot of money in terms of drug prices. it caps what you could spend out of pocket on medicare on drugs at $2000. that's significant. but i also want to talk about the electric vehicle credit, because that's something that will affect most families in this country. in this bill, there is an extension of a tax credit to buy an electric vehicle, a new one, $7500. and you would

it's a senator ron wyden, i do believe. who is speaking right now. we are going to continue to monitor this for any updates and we will bring you any news as we get to. all right, we will be right back. >> that issue is not gonna happen. and the reason it's not, is my colleagues on the finance committee snow. colleagues on the financ committee snow committee snow we've still got the best moves you've ever seen good for you, but shingles doesn't care. because 1 in 3 people will get shingles, you need protection. but, no matter how healthy you feel, your immune system declines as you age increasing your risk for getting shingles. so, what can protect you? shingrix protects. you can protect yourself from shingles with a vaccine proven to be over 90% effective. shingrix is a vaccine used to prevent shingles in adults 50 years and older. shingrix does not protect everyone and is not for those with severe allergic reactions to its ingredients or to a previous dose. an increased risk of guillain-barré syndrome was observed after getting shingrix. fainting

here is what senator ron wyden had to say. [video clip] >> we have heard some of our colleagues say this will target working people. that will not happen, and the reason it is not as my colleague on the finance committee knows so well, working problem are not the problem here. they pay taxes with every single paycheck. it is right there on their paycheck. everybody knows what taxes they pay and should they be engaging in any fraudulent activity, it would show up on these forms. they are not the problem. as we have been told again and again by independent experts, democrats, republicans, and independents, we have a problem with big, wealthy tax cheats. big, wealthy tax cheats do not pay taxes with every single paycheck like firefighters and nurses, and after a decade of republican budget cuts, we are in a very difficult position to, go after these wealthy, tax cheats who ripped off the american people for billions of dollars every gear. the current commissioner -- every year. they current commissioner is a republican appointee

you are correct, senator wyden. every minute counts, every second counts when we hear about downtown -- downtime as a i.t. issue. those are lives that are lost, patients dying, while i.t. systems are down. so, again, heartbreaking issues that we feel should be addressed. >> again, because you are on the front lines, tell us your experiences with unos systems. let's talk for example about something like donor net. why has that not been modernized? >> the response, that we were provided with the committee day i was chairing. i asked about improvements, if there was bandwidth that the i.t. department would address. >> you did not have current technology? >> i cannot say what started the response. but that was the response. >> bandwidth, that is a priority. your technology is not up-to-date. ok. let's go opio failure rates. again, like everywhere in our society there are performers that do well and some that do not. a range of organs is massive. the high-performing opio successfully recovered in transplant, as the poorl

tom: we should read joe wyden next year. they can set up at the bar. have marino brothers. jonathan: when people come, they say they've tried lots of diets, nothing's worked or they've lost the same 10, 20, 50 pounds over and over again. they need a real solution. i've always fought with 5-10 pounds all the time. eating all these different things and nothing's ever working. i've done the diets, all the diets. before golo, i was barely eating but the weight wasn't going anywhere. the secret to losing weight and keeping it off is managing insulin and glucose. golo takes a systematic approach to eating that focuses on optimizing insulin levels. we tackle the cause of weight gain, not just the symptom. when you have good metabolic health, weight loss is easy. i always thought it would be so difficult to lose weight, but with golo, it wasn't. the weight just fell off. i have people come up to me all the time and ask me, "does it really work?" and all i have to say is, "here i am. it works." my advice for everyone is to go with golo. it will release your fat and it will release y

i'm willing to work with my chairman, senator wyden, on this and with senator brown and with senator portman and others senators who are interested in the issue so we can see if there is a need and a way that we can address this issue specifically without creating a precedent that would deal with the rest of the entire system that has been put together to address terminated plans. because of the need for us to have regular order, deliberation and consideration of this legislation, i must today object. the presiding officer: objection is heard. mr. brown: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from ohio. mr. brown: i thank senator crapo. senator crapo and i have worked together on a number of things. he was chair of the banking committee the last four years. i was his ranking member and worked with him and greg and his staff on a number of things. i take him at his word. i know that senator portman and senator crapo and i sit also on the finance committee. i'm serious about this. i just had a private conversation with senator crapo. he seems serious. i know senator portman

in response chard finance chairman widen said -- wyden, there are not going to be 87,000 armed i.r.s. agents going door-to-door with assault weapons. this is funding for answering phone calls and upgrading computer systems and getting our constituents the refunds that they have been waiting for months and months and months. i get t my republican -- i get it. my republican friends do not want to give the i.r.s. the ability to go after wealthy texas cheats, corporations using every loophole possible to avoid taxes. our constituents have to pay their fair share. these rich people have to pay as well. i get it my republican friends when they were in charge passed a $2 trillion tax cut to make it easier for rich and powerful to cheat on their taxes. this democratic majority is going to make sure they pay their fair share. with that i yield one minute to the distinguished gentlewoman from texas, ms. jackson lee. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman is recognized. ms. jackson lee: i thank the distinguished chairman. i rise enthusiastically to support the rule and the underlying bill. as

wyden: madam president. the presiding officer: the senator from oregon. mr. wyden: madam president, the senator from georgia is absolutely right in his description of this moral abomination where the citizens he represents have no health care decency. and he's right that it stems from the decisions of republican governors. he's talking about individuals with too much to qualify for medicaid, not enough to get aca subsidies. tragically -- and i've talked with my colleague about this -- to preserve the rest of this bill's health, climate, and tax policy, it's just not possible as much as i want it to get this fixed today. and so i just close by saying to my colleague, i will work with him every day, day in and day out until his citizens get the health care decency he so correctly calls for this morning. reduck tantsly i oppose cutting -- reluctantly i oppose the amendment. mr. graham: i don't want to get in the middle of you all's fight but am i supposed to read this or not. the presiding officer: the senator from south carolina. mr. graham: the pending amendme

wyden: i urge opposition to the scott proposal. the presiding officer: the question is on the motion. mr. scott: i ask for the yeas and nays. the presiding officer: is there a sufficient second? there is. the clerk will call the roll. vote: vote:

wyden: i oppose this amendment for two reasons. the first is it would water down the new negotiation program, so it would be harder to negotiate over the most expensive drugs in medicare today, including cancer drugs which are at the top of our list. and second, it would water down the efforts at the internal revenue service to beef up tax enforcement against wealthy tax cheats. i would urge opposition to the marshall amendment. mr. marshall: i ask for the yeas and nays. the presiding officer: is there a sufficient second? there appears to be a is there a sufficient second. the clerk will call the roll. vote:

wyden: once -- the senator from oregon. mr. wyden: this sends the bill back to committee and kills the democratic efforts to reduce cost of prescription drugs, it reduce carbon emissions and crack down on wealthy tax cheats. if you are a wealthy tax cheat, you can rest easily, because republican budget cuts at the irs mean you can get away with breaking the law scott free. i -- scot free. i urge my colleagues to vote no. scoip defensive any time left, mr. president? -- mr. scott: defensive any time left? the presiding officer: two seconds. mr. scott: we know 9.1%, the inflation is already ravaging middle income americans. i cannot believe that we will not take the time and do what's best for the american people, especially those under $200,000. the presiding officer: the time is expired. the question is on the motion. mr. scott: i ask for the yeas and nays. the presiding officer: is there a sufficient second? there appears to be. the clerk will call the roll. vote: vote: . the presiding officer: the yeas are 50, the nays 50, an

wyden: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from oregon. mr. wyden: mr. president, i rise in opposition to this amendment. this again is about delay, about postponing, about putting off the job that he had needs to be done. what the focus of this bill is all about is cutting costs. what i've said to colleagues, my friend, the president of the senate knows this, our bill on prescription drugs kicks in this fall. we really kick in the effort to hold down price gouging when medicine is going up faster than the rate of inflation. i urge my colleagues to oppose this. we can't afford any further delay on priorities like save senior citizens on their medicine costs. mr. hoeven: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from north dakota. mr. hoeven: the bill increases taxes and increases spending. it will not bring down costs. it will not address inflation. i ask for the yeas and nays and the nays. the presiding officer: sufficient you have? there appears to be. the clerk will call the roll. vote: the presiding officer: are there any senators in the cham

wyden: mr. president. this amendment would strike a .4 % per gallon feed that helps to pay for the toxic waste fills, which is important to our historically poor, disadvantaged communities. one expert analysis found that our bill will decrease the average household energy costs by $500 a year. so for many consumers, the superfund fee would be less than $10 a year, a fraction of the savings from our bill. i urge my colleagues to oppose the amendment. the presiding officer: the question is on the amendments. is there a sufficient second? there is. the clerk will call the roll. vote:

wyden: mr. president, unfortunately this amendment is just bad news. this amendment lowers capital gains taxes and it's more tax giveaways to the most fortunate. and if you are a wealthy tax cheat, you can rest easy because republican budget cuts at the irs mean you can get away with breaking the law scott-free. i urge my colleagues to vote no. mr. grassley: do i have some time left? the presiding officer: floss time left. -- there is no time left. the question is on the amendment. is there a sufficient second? there appears to be. the clerk will call the roll. vote: vote: the presiding officer: the yeas are 49, the nays are 51, and the amendment is not agreed to. a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from maine. ms. collins: mr. president, i have a motion at the desk. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: the senator from maine, ms. collins, moves to commit the bill --. ms. collins: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the reading of the motion be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection

wyden: madam president. the presiding officer: the senior senator from oregon. mr. wyden: madam president, public service is about making people's lives better, and here is what is on offer this afternoon to make people's lives better in our country, reduced health care costs for seniors. reduced carbon emissions, reduced energy costs, and reduced cheating by wealthy tax cheats. that's just a part of what is on offer this afternoon. let me just briefly touch on each of them. we all know that medicines are way too expensive in our country. people always come back from trips and they say, why is it so much cheaper overseas? it's because these big pharmaceutical companies are under absolutely no restraibts to hold -- restraints to hold down the prices, and that's what we're beginning to change today. what we're beginning to change today is to say for those seniors who count on medicare for the first time the program they love, medicare, is going to have the power to negotiate lower drug prices for them. the fact is the senate is lifting a curse with this legislation. t

wyden: there are no tax increases on small businesses under our bill. the only businesses paying under our bill are corporations with at least $1 billion in profit per year. republicans are calling private equity corporations small businesses because they want private equity and foreign corporations to get more favorable treatment. rather than close loopholes for billion-dollar private equity firms, republicans would raise taxes on those making less than $400,000 per year. i urge a no vote. the presiding officer: the question is on the amendment. is there a sufficient second? there is. the clerk will call the roll. vote: the presiding officer: on this measure, the yeas are 57, the nays are 43 and the amendment is agreed to. a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from virginia. mr. warner: mr. president, i have an amendment at the desk, i ask for its immediate consideration. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: the senator from virginia, mr. washer, prepares -- mr. warner prepares amendment -- mr. warner: i ask u