Project 2025/Agenda 47

The previous work of the so-called “Think Tank”, Heritage Foundation, cast a significant shadow over the United States for generations dating back to the Reagan Administration. Heritage, and their new 900+ page comprehensive plan to destroy democracy is called “Project 2025”.

Project 2025 is finally emerging from the darkness and receiving some (still not nearly enough) coverage. And it’s fun to see Trump and the GOP distancing themselves from their own deeply unpopular plan faster than Josh Hawley can be seen running away from insurrectionist January 6, 2021 rioters (I mean “normal tourists”) he had just been inciting with a raised fist in the air.

Heritage continues to receive a significant amount of funding to block out any form of sunlight (reportedly $150 million in 2023).

And now, their “Project 2025”, a comprehensive 900+ page plan to murder democracy, has become visible for all to see.

While Heritage does not publish information about donors (more darkness!) information from sources indicate that the DeVos foundations

(yes, that Betsy DeVos), The Mercer Family Foundation

(who provided funding for the Facebook/Cambridge Analytica/Steve Bannon coordinated attack on the 2016 US Elections and Brexit), the Sarah Scaife Foundation (from Mellon family wealth -and also connected to The Federalist Society), the National Christian Charitable Foundation, the Schwab Charitable Fund, Charles Koch, Adolph Coors Foundation, Exxon Mobil, The Walton Family Foundation (Wal*Mart), and more.

Each one of the major “donors” maintains a strong interest in eviscerating labor unions, federal regulations (environmental, climate, financial, worker protections), public education, and more. I use double-quotes on donors because the donations are not intended for public good.

Why? Because they represent investments that will pay a far more substantial return on investment than buying stocks or bonds. Billions of dollars might be at stake. For example, a new law to shield a refinery from massive lawsuits might cost $100,000 in political donations and ultimately save a corporation billions of dollars of liability to cover the costs of the damages they have inflicted upon society, thus protecting their profits, investor dividends, and executive bonuses.

A large, big box retail store may invest a cool million in order to elect a government that will weaken unions, erode collective bargaining protections, and keep the minimum wage low (or completely remove regulations on minimum wages -and don’t worry, taxpayers will support workers with food stamps, subsidized housing, and more!)

Some of the wealthiest recognize that a well-educated, well-informed, and politically engaged society might have an affinity with democracy, equality, and justice for all. This presents a problem to the already rich as it is antithetical to their own interest in the accumulation of more wealth and power.

They will invest in media (such as Musk/Twitter, GE/NBC, Murdoch/Fox)

to control the flow of information, candidates, legislation, and policy to erode public education through privatization, vouchers, mandatory military service for public school graduates, and the evisceration of voter rights and protections (voter suppression, gerrymandering districts, maintaining the Electoral College, and more).

They will invest in corrupting the judicial system to prevent disenfranchised individuals from seeking justice through the courts. Additionally, they will vigorously strive to preserve tax loopholes and offshore accounts by dismantling progressive income tax systems, capital gains taxes on investments, estate taxes, and any other measures that hinder their accumulation of wealth and power.

My point is that it simply doesn’t matter if it is Heritage, the American Enterprise Institute, the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), the Heartland Institute, or Hoover releasing “the plan”.

It doesn’t matter if it’s called Project 2025, Agenda 47, or Mein Kampf.

It doesn’t matter if it is starring Trump, Haley, Scott, Ramaswamy, DeSantis, Vance, or Burgum as President.

Every candidate espousing the right-wing’s toxic garbage is simply working to concentrate more wealth through deregulation, privatization, and slashing taxes for their wealthiest donors on behalf of their “donor’s” offshore accounts. Every dollar they shift is either from the productivity of workers, or from shifting costs to Americans (through externalities) for multiple generations.

Read more about massive troves of secret offshore wealth (and this is what real journalism looks like):

• Panama Papers: https://www.theguardian.com/news/2016/apr/03/what-you-need-to-know-about-the-panama-papers
• Paradise Papers: https://www.theguardian.com/news/series/paradise-papers
• More Paradise Papers: https://www.icij.org/investigations/paradise-papers/us-president-donald-trumps-influencers/

When you deconstruct Project2025/Agenda47 to their basic elements it is all about using one hand to accumulate greater wealth by taking from all of us (and our children and grandchildren), and using the other hand to divide and polarize voters by pointing at abortion, immigration, inflation, crime, guns, her emails, and his age.

As Senator Cory Booker famously said: “Indivisible we are invincible.” And if more people understood it’s all about money and power -and nothing else -at least 99% of us would be united.