Mike Thompson SCREAMS At Scott Bessent: You’re Letting Him Rob The American People!
リアクション
2026年07月04日
On June 4, 2026, Rep. Mike Thompson (D-CA) questioned Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent at the House Ways and Means Committee hearing on the Treasury Department's FY2027 budget — challenging the administration's "Golden Age" economic branding with a rapid-fire series of real-world numbers.
THE "GOLDEN" SEQUENCE: Thompson opened by noting he could not find a single constituent who believes the economy is golden. He then walked through a yes-or-no sequence: electricity bills up 8.5%, health insurance costs up 26%, child care costs up 9%, gas prices up nearly 50%, and grocery prices still straining family budgets. When Bessent objected to the format, Thompson held his time and continued, arguing that while HR1 delivered modest tax cuts for some, many families are seeing those savings erased by rising costs everywhere they shop.
THE FARMER EXAMPLE: Thompson raised the case of farmers hit by high fuel and fertilizer costs, unable to get product to market because of the Iran war. Bessent's response cited 2.6% economic growth since Trump took office. Thompson's reply: "These farmers are pretty smart, Mr. Secretary, and they're not going to fall for that line."
THE IRS SETTLEMENT SCENARIO: Thompson then shifted to the Trump-IRS settlement, which bars the IRS from raising any claims against the president regarding tax returns filed before May 19, 2026. He built a specific scenario: if President Trump amended his 2024 return on May 18th — the last eligible day — claiming a $10 billion refund, would the settlement, signed by acting Attorney General Todd Blanche (Trump's former personal attorney), require the Treasury to pay it without question? Bessent's answer — "we will follow Justice Department rules" — did not directly address the question. Thompson's closing argument: "You have to sit there and watch while he robs the Treasury, and more important, while he robs the American people blind."
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SOURCES:
· C-SPAN — "Secretary Bessent Testifies on Treasury Department Priorities," full hearing, June 4, 2026 — https://www.c-span.org/event/house-committee/secretary-bessent-testifies-on-treasury-department-priorities/443731
· House Ways and Means Committee — official hearing page, June 4, 2026 — https://waysandmeans.house.gov/event/full-committee-hearing-with-treasury-secretary-scott-bessent-2/
· Capitol Labs — speaker-identified transcript and video, June 4, 2026 — https://www.capitollabsllc.com/hearing/hearing-with-treasury-secretary-scott-bessent-2026
· U.S. Department of the Treasury — Bessent's prepared opening statement, June 4, 2026 — https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/sb0522
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⚖️ DISCLAIMER:
The Reckoning Report is an independent political commentary channel. All content is based on public congressional testimony, verified news sources, and publicly available documents. Opinions expressed are for commentary and educational purposes only, protected under Fair Use (17 U.S.C. § 107). We do not claim ownership of any footage, news clips, or government documents. This channel does not represent any political party or organization.
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#MikeThompson #scottbessent #goldenage #IRSSettlement #waysandmeans #inflation #gasprices #TrumpTaxReturn #uspolitics #affordability #breakingnews #congress #senatehearing #congressionalhearing #irs
THE "GOLDEN" SEQUENCE: Thompson opened by noting he could not find a single constituent who believes the economy is golden. He then walked through a yes-or-no sequence: electricity bills up 8.5%, health insurance costs up 26%, child care costs up 9%, gas prices up nearly 50%, and grocery prices still straining family budgets. When Bessent objected to the format, Thompson held his time and continued, arguing that while HR1 delivered modest tax cuts for some, many families are seeing those savings erased by rising costs everywhere they shop.
THE FARMER EXAMPLE: Thompson raised the case of farmers hit by high fuel and fertilizer costs, unable to get product to market because of the Iran war. Bessent's response cited 2.6% economic growth since Trump took office. Thompson's reply: "These farmers are pretty smart, Mr. Secretary, and they're not going to fall for that line."
THE IRS SETTLEMENT SCENARIO: Thompson then shifted to the Trump-IRS settlement, which bars the IRS from raising any claims against the president regarding tax returns filed before May 19, 2026. He built a specific scenario: if President Trump amended his 2024 return on May 18th — the last eligible day — claiming a $10 billion refund, would the settlement, signed by acting Attorney General Todd Blanche (Trump's former personal attorney), require the Treasury to pay it without question? Bessent's answer — "we will follow Justice Department rules" — did not directly address the question. Thompson's closing argument: "You have to sit there and watch while he robs the Treasury, and more important, while he robs the American people blind."
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
SOURCES:
· C-SPAN — "Secretary Bessent Testifies on Treasury Department Priorities," full hearing, June 4, 2026 — https://www.c-span.org/event/house-committee/secretary-bessent-testifies-on-treasury-department-priorities/443731
· House Ways and Means Committee — official hearing page, June 4, 2026 — https://waysandmeans.house.gov/event/full-committee-hearing-with-treasury-secretary-scott-bessent-2/
· Capitol Labs — speaker-identified transcript and video, June 4, 2026 — https://www.capitollabsllc.com/hearing/hearing-with-treasury-secretary-scott-bessent-2026
· U.S. Department of the Treasury — Bessent's prepared opening statement, June 4, 2026 — https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/sb0522
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
🔔 Subscribe for daily political breakdowns.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
⚖️ DISCLAIMER:
The Reckoning Report is an independent political commentary channel. All content is based on public congressional testimony, verified news sources, and publicly available documents. Opinions expressed are for commentary and educational purposes only, protected under Fair Use (17 U.S.C. § 107). We do not claim ownership of any footage, news clips, or government documents. This channel does not represent any political party or organization.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
#MikeThompson #scottbessent #goldenage #IRSSettlement #waysandmeans #inflation #gasprices #TrumpTaxReturn #uspolitics #affordability #breakingnews #congress #senatehearing #congressionalhearing #irs
