THE FALLACY OF “MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN”

If Donald Trump and the radicalized Republican Party have a policy doctrine for the American people, it is simply to “Make America Great Again.” Peaking behind the curtain, this means a return to a mythological past when Christianity, local charities, white superiority, rural communities, and economic hierarchies controlled the strings of our democracy.

This commentary will size up this idolized past-America with the Republican view of our future. I will compare the Heritage Foundation’s 900-page manifesto, Project 2025, with Republican policy positions from the “good-old days.” Trump’s recent attempt to distance himself from Project 2025 is disingenuous. Its authors include his former cabinet secretaries, top White House officials, and senior aides.

Going back ninety years to the Republican Party platform of 1932 provides an interesting comparison. The party was pushing for the reelection of Herbert Hoover “after three years of economic depression of unparalleled extent and severity.” The platform called for “Unemployment and Relief” to be “a state and local responsibility.” It commended the charitable work of “citizen’s organizations across the country” as the solution for starving Americans.

In this fondly remembered idyllic period of our history, Republicans labeled any attempts to improve economic or social equality as outright communism.  In 1932, Republicans considered federal programs like unemployment insurance and social security as the death knell of our democracy. Thankfully, Democrat Franklin D. Roosevelt initiated both in 1935.

In the middle of the worst recession in history, the 1932 Republican Platform called for “drastic reduction of public expenditure and resistance to every appropriation not demonstrably necessary to the performance of government, national or local.” Concerning the world financial system, the platform “upheld the gold standard.”

On foreign policy, “The party will continue to maintain its attitude of protecting our national interests…without alliances or foreign partnerships.” On immigration, “the restriction of immigration is a Republican policy.” On infrastructure, “the states will continue building roads.”

These policy prescriptions from the past were destined to “make America fail.”  It is interesting that while the 1932 Republican Party was aligned with southern segregationists, many extremes of MAGA were nowhere to be found. The platform contained no hint of supporting an authoritarian executive, increasing executive power, or Christian nationalism.

Following Roosevelt’s election, Democrats initiated a bold new agenda for the modern era—to truly make America great. Roosevelt would end the depression by adopting a comprehensive federal economic safety net for citizens in need. He would end American isolationism, win WWII, and prepare the nation to assume a major role in international foreign policy. He would reform our banking system and make it the model for world finance. He would permit immigration so that our economy could grow. Democrats controlled the White House for the next twenty years, and our nation became the envy of the world.

Now, segue to the sweeping radical plan for Trump’s second term, as outlined by the ultra-conservative Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025. According to the news and opinion website Vox Media, Heritage’s main goal is to push the federal government further to the right. It would replace thousands of long-serving bipartisan civil servants with Trump ideologues and hardliners.

Vox Media concludes, “There is every reason to believe a second-term President Trump will go full steam ahead with centralizing executive authority in a way that could enable major abuses of power.”

So, how will a Trump election victory and Project 2025 make America great again?  In many respects, Project 2025 is a return to the provincial Republican policies of 1932, when economically challenged Americans were expected to fend for themselves or rely on local charity.

Project 2025 would raise the retirement age for Social Security. It calls for  individuals with few investment skills to manage their own Social Security accounts. Proposals would strip 688,000 people of their SNAP (food stamp) benefits. The plan would end the Head Start program for disadvantaged children. The Affordable Care Act would be eliminated and Medicaid benefits cut.

Project 2025 seeks to abolish overtime pay laws, outlaw public sector unions, eliminate health and safety protections, terminate the federal minimum wage, make it harder for people out of work to receive unemployment, and wants to abolish the Department of Education, which supports public education. Trump’s “greater America” would rip large holes in the fabric of our nation’s economic safety net and regulatory protections.

In a return to 1932, Project 2025 calls for an American foreign policy that leans hard into Trump’s isolationist instincts. If Trump wins, Ukraine and South Korea are rightfully worried about reduced support. Mexico fears the deportation of millions. NATO is preparing to go it alone against Russia. The Project calls for the nation to leave the Paris Agreement on climate change.

In addition, in a return to 1932, Project 2025 would abolish the Federal Reserve, and let the executive branch control fiscal policy, bringing partisan politics into the financial markets. The ghost of Herbert Hoover is at work supporting Trump’s plan for a 10% across the board tariff on imported goods.  Economists believe such a tariff will rapidly accelerate inflation and cost the average family $1,500 a year.

Each voter must weigh the state of our nation under a Democrat administration, against Trump’s plan as set out in Project 2025. In 2024, we are admired by the world for our economic success and leadership. Conversely, Trump’s MAGA vision is a very dark and dangerous place.