I watched all three hours of Scott Bessent’s confirmation hearing. My three main steps:

1.He is very talented, thoughtful and polite. In many respects, he would probably be a good Treasury Secretary.

2.Whether it’s out of faith or greed, he and his team are blind when it comes to taxing the rich. For them, the top tax brackets are fine as they are. . . or very high. InnoIncome level – be it more than $1 million a year or $10 million or $1 billion – they can consider even a small price increase. This is bad for our economy, our national debt, and our well-being.

Yesterday, Scott called billionaires “job creators.” Fellow billionaire, Nick Hanauer, dismissed that idea with a6 minute clipI have been coordinating for 12 years.

3.Scott and her husband John and their children could not have been more warmly welcomed. Look at these4 minutesand Thom Tillis, Republican of North Carolina.

Trump’s “trickle-down economics” – very bad. His judicial appointment – bad. His Project 2025 agenda – terrible. The example we set for our children is bad. His choice of dictators over the democratic leaders of NATO – very bad. There isa lotfor him, and many around him, that’s bad (see BONUS, below).

But here and there, there will be some good that should not be ignored.

That the incoming Treasury Secretary, her husband and her children will be accepted as a good American family by Republican senators – on TV, at least?

When I was growing up, it was unthinkable.

The Democrats have been fighting for 50 years to make this happen, and the Republicans have been fighting us the whole time. Some are still there. But boy, we’ve come a long way. Focus on those republics where it is not a problem. Love is love. Live and let live. Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

Editors’ Note: This article was originally published on January 17, 2025, at andrewtobias.com, and was incorporated with permission.