So I've been reading Project 2025 so you don't have to, and I'm going to report on everything I find that is alarming, which is a lot. Part One can be found here.
Section 6 - State Department
First of all they want from day one to have all political appointments start their jobs before they are confirmed. The confirmation process exists for a reason.- to investigate and vett the people filling the positions. Vetting would be bypassed. Only if rejected by the Senate would anyone not get the job. Also, they would place political appointees in positions that do not require Senate confirmation. No one in a leadership position on the morning of January 20 would hold that position at the end of the day.This means zero transition/training.
There is a whole section entitled "Reboot Ambassadors Worldwide". Again, this would mean no transition period and no people holding offices as placeholders. That happened during the last Trump administration and it was a disaster.
Order an immediate freeze on all efforts to implement unratified treaties and international agreements. Realign the entirety of the State Department to implement the administration policies, not review them. Defer (the exact phrase is "radio silent") to the White House when it wants to take the lead on specific issues. You should really see the part of the last couple of episodes of The West Wing when Santos offers the Secretary of State job to Vinick. The arguments against this approach are striking and well thought out.
Put The State Department on WAR FOOTING when it comes to China. Strictly enforce the doctrine of reciprocity when issuing visas to all foreign nationals - they want to travel here? We have to be allowed to travel there on the same terms. Or we adjust to the terms you use. Suspend the issuance of visas to individuals from any country that does not take back persons expelled from the U.S. Reimplementation of the Remain in Mexico policy.
Realign the student visa program to align with specific national security interests.
China, along with Iran and Venezuela, are to be considered enemies. Ukraine is to be considered a corrupt regime and only defensive military support should be given. It does acknowledge that Russia's invasion is unlawful, which is the only bright spot in the whole document.
Denuclearize North Korea with direct engagement. Negotiations in person.
Project 2025 declares Mexico as run by Drug Cartels and not any form of Mexican Government, and that a new government must be propped up/established. In the previous posting of this series I talked about the military plan to invade Mexico. I see that supported here.
Exert our influence over South America.
As for the Middle East, despite how it reads Project 2025 is pretty much the same policies that the last 15 Administrations have had: Protect Israel and allow them to protect themselves, deter Iran by any mean necessary, build up friendships with countries that have oil. The document states that this is not what Biden is doing, but in fact it is. He's not quite a blatant about bowing to the Princes and Kings as Trump is, but it still winds up being the same policies.
Leave funding in Africa to the free market. Accept the split of Somalia into two countries (I admit my personal knowledge is weak in this area). Eliminate Boko Haram and similar groups. Stay out of the way when African countries implement laws against the LGBTQAI+ community (this involves a lot of killing) and do not tie aid to policies regarding them or abortion policies.
Intensify trade with EU countries, but at the same time implement policies that prevent the UK for re-entering the EU.
Greater cooperation with India and accept that Pakistan has issues (Taliban related) that are impossible to overcome.
Here's a big one: Make the United States' continued participation in NATO reliant upon NATO recognizing that the Arctic Circle is part of the area it must defend. Insist upon open a free-trade routes through the Arctic region, defend from Chinese and Russian Aggression, and run the mission from the Embassy in Nuuk, Greenland.
Another big set: Withdraw from, or terminated funding for, the United Nations Human Rights Council, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, and the WHO. Doing only a small amount of that last one under Trump the first time around is what led to COVID. Eliminate Human Rights as a litmus test for what international organizations we fund. Make certain that any funds do not go to groups that fund abortion or any non-"family oriented" goals.
Come up with a Cyber-space version of "Voice of America". That one's kinda vague, but it's there.
Section 7 - Intelligence Community
I've read this entire section and the most that I can tell you about it is that it's the same horseshit as all the previous secgtions. Make certain posts not require Senate Confirmation, Stop all intelligence missions by the previous administration within 60 days, and reign in a ton of stuff that isn't actually happening but did happen under the previous Trump Administration.
The President directs who gets the daily briefings, and how narrow their focus must be. If he says ignore a situation, it must be ignored. It also demands the immediate use of etechnologies that don't yet exist, like 6G and Quantum cryptography.
And oh yes, more spy satellites. Lots more.
Section 8 - Media Agencies
Turn Voice of America into Fox News or worse. Reinforce the Office of Cuba Propoganda. Turn the MIddle East Broadcast Network into Fox News. Same for Radio Free Europe and Radio Free Asia. Shut down the Open Technology Fund.
Put up a censorship "firewall":on all stories generated through the United States Agency for Global Media. In other words, turn it into a political mouthpiece. Cut it's budget by nearly 20%. Restrict access visas for foriegn journalists. Reinvestment in short-wave radio. You know, the ham radios militias use.
Take away the journalistic independence of all agencies and put them under the perview of the NSA and the State Department.
One more thing. Eliminate the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Reduce its budget to zero.
Section 9 - Agency for International Development
This is the part of government that oversees international aid. When we send money to help disaster victims anywhere in the world, this is where it comes from. FEMA is for the US, but the AID (also known as the DFA - Directorate of Foriegn Aid) is for the rest of the world. It is meant to be non-partisan and to help those who need it on an as-needed basis.This is also where the country invests in business all over the world.
Changes here would eliminate all consideration of climate change when investing in other countries. Africa runs on 80% coal and it should stay that way. Any diversity issues are to be ignored. Any civil rights issues should be ignored. Re-emphasis on families at the expense of other agendas, especially those founded on specific religious principles that many people in this country would consider racist, sexist, misogynist, and anti-LGBTQA+.
No funding is to go to any agency that in any way whatsoever supports a pro-abortion agenda, even if they don't offer the service themselves. The Helms amendment is to be expanded to cover all foriegn aid. Specifically promote their own specific religious agenda.
The office of the head of disbursements is to become a political appointment. Ignore grift by AIDs disbursement organizations in Africa. Focus on family-oriented aid instead of specific disease focused aid. Privatize health care aid in Africa. Take over the World Health Organization.
Tie humanitarian aid to any and all countries to the political agenda of the conservative administration. Farm out aid management to private organizations. Focus aid to countries that allow more American Businesses to establish footholds in their countries. Focus aid on undermining China's influence in southeast Asia.
The Trump administration took the position that it "solved" the issue of Isreal and that thinking would return. The primary focus would become Iran. Use programs already established by (American) churches in the region to funnel aid through them.
As for South America, lots of language about free markets and so on, but mostly it's all a disguise for "Fuck Venuzuela".
The ultimate focus of all of this is to turn all international aid and investment into a political arm and an economic truncheon for the policies of the administration. Some fo that already does happen, but this would become the overriding and only guiding policy to be followed.
There is one thing I find funny in all of this section - it's a specific call out that Japan has invested $30 Billion in Africa in an effort to counter China. That's actually only kind of true. That $30 Billion is for a single project - a high speed rail in Saudi Arabia. Face it, Japan does this better than anyone.
Section 10 - Department of Agriculture
First off, eliminate any consideration of climate change issues in any and all policies within the DofA. Craft a new mission statement that focuses on the "removal of barriers" in terms of delivering food to the public. We're talking about safety regulations.
I know that regulations can be a pain to deal with. But take a look at ANY food regulation. Any of them. The reason it exists is because of a reaction to some people DYING. Policies up through thr Trump administration have all been a reaction to somethning terrible happening. After a few years people forget this happened and Republicans want that regulation gone.
The regulation always returns after people die again.
Defund any and all efforts to push sustainable agriculture (which is the reason people spend less of their income on food, by the way). Eliminate regulations that can have any impact on the cost of food. That's just about every regulation from pesticide levels to wages to working conditions to how much cockroach is allowed in your twinkee.
The Commodity Credit Corporation is to be used only for farmers and ranchers. During COVID discretionary funds were used to stockpile various foods, which kept people from starving when various food production operations stopped. The ability to do this would be eliminated.
Repeal many of the farm subsudy programs that currently exist. Some of those are the only things that keep small farmers afloat in hard times. Reduce the amount that taxpayers pay in these programs by 20%. That burden would shift to farmers.
Implement work requirements for Food Stamp and "Snap" aid recipients. Put in requirements for lunches and breakfasts for children in school that would eliminate about 50% of all children currently on the program. Also, move all of this to the Department of Health and Human Services and out of the DofA.
Eliminate funding for leaving land fallow for crop rotation purposes. I guess these people don't actually know farming. Hell, even I know this one and I'm a city kid. Allow farming and ranching in wetlands and federally protected lands. Eliminate Federal food inspections for foods sold accross state lines.
Eliminatge all "checkoff" programs, which are meant to promote certain food industries and restrict monopolies by large corporations on specific commodities. This is meant to squeeze the small farmer out of business in favor of corporate farming.
Eliminate funding for trade promotion for foodstuffs to other countries. I find this one quite strange and very un-Republican. I don't understand it.
Promote an increase in Genetically Modified Foods. Repeal the federal mandate that genetically modified foods must be labelled. Promote Bioengineering of food as a policy.
Eliminate the funding of Dietary Guidelines. This includes the recommended calorie amounts per day, the food pyramid and even the "four food groups" I had as a kid. These things will no longer be taught.
The Forest Service is under the Agriture Department. Right at the top of the list for this department is increased logging anf forest harvesting to prevent forest fires. In fact that's the only thing they discuss in the document. The solution to forrest fires is to have less forrest.
Next posting will cover the Department of Education, The Department of Energy, The Environmental Protection Agency, The Department of Health and Human Services, and the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
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