Economy

Build a middle class
that can breathe.

The richest country in the history of human civilization - and one-third of Americans can't cover a $400 emergency. That's not an accident. That's economic policy. And economic policy can be changed.

The Reality

The economy is working - for about 1% of us.

Top 1% now own more wealth than the bottom 90% combined - the highest concentration since the Gilded Age

$7.25

The federal minimum wage, unchanged since 2009. Worth 30% less today than in 1968 in real terms.

1,322%

CEO pay increase since 1979. Average worker pay in the same period: 18%

Corporations (Amazon, Apple, Microsoft) now control more wealth than the bottom 50% of Americans combined

Why This Happened

Forty years of trickle-down didn't trickle down.

Since 1980, every major economic policy decision has been made on the assumption that cutting taxes on the wealthy and deregulating corporations would produce broadly shared prosperity. It didn't. It produced forty years of wage stagnation, rising inequality, and an increasingly winner-take-all economy.

Corporate concentration is at historic highs. In industry after industry - airlines, pharmaceuticals, agriculture, banking, social media - a handful of companies control the entire market. This isn't a natural market outcome. It's the result of gutted antitrust enforcement.

Project 2025 doubled down: further corporate tax cuts, elimination of the CFPB, rollback of labor protections, and weakening of financial regulation. The explicit goal was to transfer more power and wealth to corporations and their shareholders, at the expense of workers and small businesses.

What Project 2025 Did to the Economy

● Eliminated the CFPB - removing the primary consumer financial protection agency
● Proposed eliminating capital gains taxes entirely - a direct transfer of wealth from workers to investors
● Gutted FTC and DOJ antitrust enforcement staff and reversed Biden-era merger guidelines
● Proposed converting the SBA to a block grant program - effectively eliminating small business lending
● Removed overtime pay protections for salaried workers, eliminating coverage for 4+ million workers

The Plan

What Project 2029 proposes.

Based on Chapters 21, 22, and 25 of Project 2029 - covering Commerce, Treasury, and the SBA.

Main Street Investment Act

$100 billion to rebuild the small business economy

Establish a $100B Main Street Investment Fund administered through the SBA and Treasury, providing low-interest loans (under 3%), technical assistance grants, and equity investment to small businesses with under 500 employees. Priority given to businesses in economically distressed communities (defined by unemployment and poverty rates), minority-owned and women-owned businesses, and businesses in sectors critical to domestic supply chain resilience. Worker-owned cooperatives receive priority lending at 1% below standard rates.

Legal Authority: Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. § 636); Article I spending power; Commerce Clause

Antitrust Restoration and Corporate Accountability Act

Break up the monopolies - and keep them broken

Restore the original intent of the Sherman, Clayton, and FTC Acts through stronger enforcement and updated standards. Establish a presumption that any merger creating a market share above 30% is anticompetitive. Require structural separation (not behavioral remedies) for platform monopolies with over $500B market cap that operate in both platform and product/service roles (i.e., Amazon cannot compete against sellers on its own marketplace). Increase FTC and DOJ Antitrust Division budgets to $2B each annually. Establish criminal penalties for corporate executives - not just fines - for antitrust violations.

Legal Authority: Sherman Act (15 U.S.C. § 1); Clayton Act (15 U.S.C. § 12); FTC Act (15 U.S.C. § 41)

Tax Code Reform: Work Over Wealth

A tax code that rewards work, not just ownership

Restore top individual income tax rates to 39.6% on income above $400K. Establish a minimum 25% tax on unrealized capital gains for individuals with over $100M in assets (closing the "buy, borrow, die" loophole). Enact a 2% annual wealth tax on net worth above $50M, 3% above $1B. Raise the corporate tax rate to 28%. Eliminate the carried interest loophole. Increase the estate tax rate to 77% on estates above $1B, with no step-up in basis at death. Use revenue for the programs in this document.

Legal Authority: 16th Amendment; Internal Revenue Code (26 U.S.C.); Revenue Clause (Art. I, Sec. 8)

Worker Ownership Incentive Act

Let workers share in what they build

Create a Worker Ownership Investment Fund providing low-cost financing for employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs) and worker cooperative conversions. Offer retiring business owners a 50% capital gains tax exclusion on sales to workers (vs. current 10% for ESOPs). Provide technical assistance grants for cooperative formation. Require any company receiving federal contracts above $10M to implement profit-sharing for frontline workers. Extend ESOP benefits to S-corporations and partnerships.

Legal Authority: Internal Revenue Code § 1042; ERISA; Article I spending power

Supply Chain Security and Domestic Manufacturing Act

America shouldn't depend on adversaries for critical goods

COVID exposed the catastrophic fragility of U.S. supply chains for critical goods - semiconductors, pharmaceuticals, rare earth minerals, medical equipment. Project 2029 proposes: $50B in domestic manufacturing investment through Commerce Department industrial policy; requirement that all federal procurement prioritize domestically produced critical goods; strategic reserve systems for pharmaceuticals and medical supplies; and Buy American requirements with teeth - verified compliance, not self-reporting.

Legal Authority: Defense Production Act (50 U.S.C. § 4501); Trade Expansion Act; Commerce Clause

Restore and Strengthen Financial Consumer Protection

No more financial products designed to strip wealth from working people

Restore the CFPB to full operational independence. Expand CFPB authority to include non-bank financial companies (payday lenders, buy-now-pay-later, cryptocurrency platforms). Reinstate the CFPB payday lending rule limiting loans to 36% APR. Restore the CFPB arbitration rule prohibiting class-action waivers in consumer financial contracts. Establish a Financial Products Safety Commission modeled on the Consumer Product Safety Commission - vetting financial products before they reach market.

Legal Authority: Dodd-Frank Act (12 U.S.C. § 5491); Article I; Seila Law LLC v. CFPB (2020)

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