Have you noticed a pattern of democratic backsliding in countries around the globe? I have.
Take Haiti for example. Although officially a semi-presidential republic, Haiti’s constitution was modeled after those of the United States and France. Haiti is currently being overrun by gangs and criminals. Not only is their democracy crumbling, so is their rule of law.
Take a look at Hungary. Under the leadership of Prime Minister, Victor Orbán, civil liberties have been curtailed, marginalized communities have had their rights stripped, the media suppressed, and the ability of opposition parties to fairly run in elections has been stymied. The regime has also redefined “real” Hungarians as Christians.
This isn’t an opinion.
In 2022, the European Commission held back millions in E.U. funds until Hungary meets conditions related to judicial independence, academic freedom, LGBTQ+ rights and the asylum system. That same year, the European Parliament stated that Hungary could no longer be considered “a full democracy,” but is rather an “electoral autocracy.” The EU money was still on hold as of November 2023.
Here in the U.S. the far-right applauds Orbán, who has repeatedly spoken at extremist events like CPAC.
Project 2025
Whether your persuasion is Republican, Democrat, or Independent, if you treasure living in a democracy, I believe it’s important to have at least a rudimentary understanding of Project 2025.
Launched by The Heritage Foundation, the four pillars of Project 2025 are a comprehensive blueprint to “overhaul” the entire U.S. government by whatever means necessary. This includes reproductive rights, voting rights, business oversight, and environmental protection—just to name a few.
Project 2025 is not the “next new thing.” It’s been years in the making, supported by over 100 organizations with money from undisclosed sources. Supporters of the project are working to make their policy priorities permanent, no matter what happens in future elections.
A Few Details
The first pillar of four of the nearly 1,000-page “handbook” professes the idea of having a new civic infrastructure in place immediately after the election (assuming Trump wins). This will reshape the day-to-day operation of our government, in part, by firing as many as 50,000 federal workers.
As I understand this one aspect of Project 2025, non-partisan civil servants with training, experience, and institutional knowledge would be replaced with those who support the far-right agenda. In some cases, this means replacing scientists with Maga loyalists so that the day to day operation of our government is turned into a patronage operation.
This would be accomplished by reinstating what’s called Schedule F — a Trump-era executive order that would reclassify tens of thousands of the two million federal employees as essentially at-will workers who could more easily be fired.
As it now stands, just 4,000 members of the federal workforce are considered political appointees who typically change with each administration. But Schedule F could put tens of thousands of career professional jobs at risk.
What Else?
The Project 2025 document claims to support equality, while advocating for dismantling the government agencies that enforce laws ensuring equality, such as Title VII of The Civil Rights Act which protects employees and job applicants from employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex and national origin and Title IX which prohibits discrimination based on sex from educational programs or activities receiving Federal financial assistance. Title IX is one reason women made up 54% of our olympic team in Tokyo.
While claiming to support the working class, the document calls for additional tax cuts for the rich, elimination of labor protections, deregulation of big business and the oil industry, and giving the president unchecked power and (watch what’s happening now in the courts) immunity from prosecution.
Project 2025 seeks to place the entire Executive Branch of the federal government under direct presidential control. This means eliminating the independence of the DOJ, the Federal Communications Commission, the Federal Trade Commission, and other agencies.
These details represented only a fraction of the overall document. Take time to Google Project 2025 and draw your own conclusions. Our democracy is at stake!
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