economy | The Merrow Report

Anybody else out there feeling depressed about what’s happening in our country? Frightened? Angry? All of the above?

Well, join the crowd!

Although the fire hose of disturbing news can be overwhelming, panic and despair cannot be options, not on Memorial Day and not ever. The smart people I’m listening to suggest at least three courses of action: 1) Support the ACLU and others who are fighting Trump in the courts;

2) Focus on taking back the House, and perhaps even the Senate in 2026; and

3) Help figure out what Democrats stand for, rather than playing the parlor game of arguing about the strengths and weaknesses of Gretchen Whitmer, Kamala Harris, Pete Buttigieg, JB Pritzker, and others. Parlor games and being against Trumpism aren’t enough; it wasn’t enough in 2016 or 2024, and it won’t be enough in 2026 and 2028 either.

#3, Figuring out what Democrats and the Democratic Party stand for could lead to ‘Project 2029,’ which should be the opposite of ‘Project 2025,’ the GOP’s blueprint for dismantling much of the federal government. In sharp contrast, ‘Project 2029’ has to be forward-looking and positive, even as it seeks to undo the damage Trump has done and is doing.

So….what should be in Project 2029? For openers, I would argue that Democrats should support almost anything that has the word ‘public’ in its name: public libraries, public parks, public schools, public transportation.

AND: Bring back the draft…for men and women….to require two years of universal National Service. This could be compensated service in a branch of the military, the Peace Corps, AmeriCorps, Habitat for Humanity, a state’s Civilian Conservation Corps, or other similar organizations. And this time National Service includes an additional reward: Two years of tuition or training credits, at an accredited institution. JFK famously said “Ask not what your country can do for you. Ask what you can do for your country.” Let’s ask BOTH questions.

ALSO:

A) Fiscal and monetary policies that help people buy their first home;

B) Higher taxes on the wealthy, a ban on trading by Congress, and other reforms of the tax code;

C) Community schools, not just stronger public schools. These schools welcome parents and take full advantage of whatever the community has to offer.

(And while we are at it, let’s make it harder to become a teacher but easier to be one. Higher entry standards and better training, and then more trust and better pay);

D) Rebuild our aging infrastructure;

E) Aggressively combat climate change;

F) Resist autocrats and support NATO and Ukraine;

G) Health care is a right. Make that a fact as well.

That’s my two cents. What would you add or subtract?

Much has been written about “Project 2025,” supposedly a blueprint for a second Trump Presidency. I have learned that candidate Trump had nothing to do with “Project 2025.” However, he has been personally involved in another less complex but more ambitious project, named by Trump himself as “Project 1897,” a reference to William McKinley, Trump’s second favorite former president (after himself, doh).

“Project 1897” has just three major points:

Tariffs (and no income tax)
2G, with implications for relations between the sexes, and voting privileges
Natural American Zones of Interest, his trade policies

“Project 1897” is written in the first person, although it is not clear whether Mr. Trump actually wrote it, dictated it, or had aides do the writing.

TARIFFS: “Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 grants me broad power (including the imposition of tariffs) to adjust imports whenever I find them to be a threat to U.S. national security. As your President the first time, I imposed a 45% tariff on Chinese goods, and this time I will immediately impose a 60% tariff on all goods coming to us from China. This will make all of us richer. And to those doubters who say tariffs cause inflation, believe me when I tell you that the higher the tariff, the more likely it is that foreign companies will come into the United States, and build their factories here so they don’t have to pay the tariffs. These countries and foreign companies only understand strength, and we are strong. I will make the tariffs so high, so horrible, so obnoxious–maybe 100% or even 200%–that those companies will come here right away. They will build here and hire American workers.

What’s more, the prosperity tariffs will bring to our great country will allow me to eliminate the federal income tax! I will abolish the IRS, and put the 90,000 IRS bureaucrats out on the street, just like that. That’s a savings of $16 billion, just like that. And no more April 15th confusion for millions of Americans.

2G: “Telephone companies like Verizon and T-Mobile keep trying to confuse us by talking about ‘5G’ and ‘4G,’ which is about how fast the phones work. Don’t be fooled or confused. There’s only TWO G, by which I mean GENDER. There’s men and there’s women, and that’s it. There’s no ‘3G, or ‘4G’ or ‘5G’ and however many more the left can come up with. I promise to bring back respect for the two genders God made, with separate bathrooms and just two athletic groups. No more ‘gender transition craziness.’

As for these people who call themselves ‘trans,’ they will find themselves ‘transported’ to the Siberian desert or maybe the moon!

The Bible, my favorite book, makes it very clear that God intended husbands to lead, and their wives to follow. We will go back to 1897 and return the responsibility for voting to men, as God intended. As men, we will safeguard our women and protect them from the indignities of the workplace. I will protect women, whether they want me to or not.”

3: Natural American Zones of Interest: “For too long other countries have taken advantage of American business, enacting laws that limit our investments. No more! Capitalism is the wave of the future, and as your President, I will designate certain areas of the world ‘Natural American Zones of Interest” (NAZI) and I will use all the powers granted to me by our beautiful Constitution and our amazing Supreme Court to make sure that American corporations to dominate those regions economically.

In the next four years (and probably eight), I will expand these ‘Natural American Zones of Interest’ so that, eventually, the entire world is NAZI.”