Project 2025: A Radical Economic Agenda
Project 2025 outlines an ambitious and controversial plan that critics argue could harm the U.S. economy and working-class Americans. The proposed policies would significantly alter tax structures, worker protections, and federal investments in ways that concentrate power, raise middle-class taxes, and reduce benefits for low-income families. Below are key components of this agenda:
Tax Increases on Middle-Class Families and Corporate Benefits
- Restructuring Income Taxes: The plan proposes two income tax brackets: a 15% rate for incomes up to about $168,000 and a 30% rate above that. This would shift the tax burden from the wealthy to middle-income families, many of whom would pay thousands more annually. The plan also eliminates "most deductions, credits, and exclusions," with no guarantee of preserving key benefits like the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) or Child Tax Credit (CTC), which support low- and middle-income households.
- Corporate Tax Reduction: The plan suggests lowering the corporate tax rate from 21% to 18%, a change that would further enrich the wealthiest corporations. When the corporate tax rate was cut from 35% to 21% in 2017, it added $1.3 trillion to the national deficit over a decade and disproportionately benefited high earners and executives.
- Implementing a National Sales Tax: A proposed consumption tax, similar to a national sales tax, would increase prices on essential goods and services for working families, with some proposals suggesting up to a 30% increase on items typically exempt from state and local taxes, like groceries and housing.
Reduced Worker Protections
- Overtime Pay Changes: The plan reduces eligibility for overtime pay, reversing the Biden administration's reforms that enabled millions of Americans to earn more in overtime wages. Additionally, new policies would allow employers to avoid overtime pay obligations if an employee works uneven hours across weeks.
- Weakened Child Labor Protections: Project 2025 proposes allowing children to work in hazardous occupations, such as factories and meatpacking plants. This rollback on child labor protections could expose children to significant risks instead of investing in safer apprenticeship programs.
- Undermining Unions: By reducing the authority of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), the plan would hinder unionization efforts, potentially allowing anti-union employers to sideline worker rights and illegally terminate union-supporting employees.
- Reduced Veterans' Disability Benefits: Project 2025 also limits eligibility for veterans' disability benefits, affecting millions of service-connected disabled veterans who rely on these benefits as financial support.
Undermining Economic Security
- Repeal of Infrastructure and Clean Energy Investments: The plan seeks to reverse investments made by the Biden administration in infrastructure and clean energy projects, which have bolstered manufacturing jobs and created blue-collar employment opportunities.
- Abolition of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB): Project 2025 proposes to dismantle the CFPB, which has recovered $19 billion in consumer relief for Americans, protecting against predatory lenders and fraudulent practices.
- Federal Reserve Focus Shift: Project 2025 recommends that the Federal Reserve abandon its goal of full employment, which has helped sustain job growth and rising wages. This shift could harm workers' ability to seek better jobs and negotiate for improved compensation.
Concentration of Power and Presidential Immunity
One of the most concerning aspects of Project 2025 is its proposal to grant the president expanded powers with limited checks and balances. This would enable the president to influence business deals with minimal oversight and make decisions that could disproportionately benefit favored corporations and CEOs.
Ultimately, critics argue that Project 2025 represents a stark departure from current policies, posing significant risks to economic security, worker rights, and core American freedoms. With proposed limitations on reproductive rights, rule of law, and more, Project 2025 envisions a transformation of U.S. governance and society.