In 2023, the conservative Heritage Institute undertook the writing of a blueprint or guide for a Presidential transition in case a conservative Republican ousted Joe Biden from the White House. It listed policies and changes extreme conservatives hoped to achieve. And then Donald Trump won re-election to a second term.
Chaos reigned in Trump 2.0: a never ending war that the United States has either won, or is in the process of winning, and which maybe will force Iran to return control of the Straits of Hormuz. On the domestic front, ICE continues its harassment of immigrants in American cities, is upending the Head Start Program, has ended Obama Care subsidies for health insurance and on and on and on… It almost appears like a stream of conscience style of non-focus by the Trump Administration.
But is it really?
During the 2024 Presidential campaign, Kamala Harris began condemning “Project 2025,” which she warned outlined a plan to undo some 70 years of civil rights achievements and many of the social reforms that began with the New Deal of the early 20th Century . During the campaign, candidate Trump distanced himself from Project 2025 and claimed to know nothing and to have no connection with the extremely conservative Heritage Foundation that wrote it.
But again, was Trump telling the truth about Project 2025?
The Heritage Foundation is a “think tank,” one of many in the United States. Among them are The Brookings Institution, The Cato Institute, and The Center for American Progress. These think tanks have been drafting programs for Presidential administrations for decades, going as far back as l981, when the Heritage Foundation drafted one for Ronald Reagan.
So what does Project 2025 want for the country and is Trump really not following their guidelines?
For the most part, and at its simplest, Project 2025 wishes to expand Presidential authority to undo policies in civil rights, environmental rights, women’s rights, LGBTQ+ rights. It wishes to reverse immigration policies of the past 50 years, reverse abortion policies. It wishes to undo the professionalism of the Department of Justice, the FBI, the CCD, Consumer Finance Protection Bureau. It seeks to replace non-partisan civil servants with political allies who will do the Presidential bidding. It has ended Obama Care subsidies, cut back on the food stamp program and has suggested putting limits on social security benefits.
The Trump Administration has demanded so many policy changes, as if to sow confusion to the enemy through loud braying about anything and everything. One has to wonder why.
According to some observers:
Project 2025 has its roots in the l950’s, when conservative Southerners sought to counter national criticism of racially segregated schools. It grew out of “The Southern Manifesto”…a document signed by 128 Senators and Congressmen from the 11 states of the Old South, vowing to uphold segregation and white supremacy. Years later in 2023, Project 2025 was written in conjunction with 100 other conservative groups.
The current Trump Administration includes Project 2025 authors such as CIA director John Ratcliffe; Brendan Carr, chosen to oversee the Federal Communications Commission; Tom Homan, Trump’s “border czar”; Paul Atkins, nominated to head the Securities and Exchange Commission; and trade advisor Peter Navarro. Russell Vought, wrote a key chapter in the document and was confirmed by the Senate to lead the Office of Budget Management.
It has been estimated that half of the goals listed have been achieved. Is there a chance that the southern conservatives can achieve their goals? Can American society blindly reverse more than a century of reforms in the areas of civil rights, the environment and immigration? And if so, there is the question of how such changes would affect the larger economy. Might this inflation and a gasoline shortage stop the economic vitality of the country and lead to large unemployment to accompany rising prices? Wittingly or no, the Trump Administration is raising the cost of living, reducing education, health care and retirement. But to what end?
Need more information? Check these sources out:
htps://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/#starred/QgrcJHrnqxnzcRrZQJpwBZWRLbjfgcQPpJl
https://nul.org/news/project-2025-new-southern-manifesto
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c977njnvq2do
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_2025