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Project 2025: Cancelling the American Dream

The far-right Heritage Foundation wants to rob federally funded programs that support early education for low-income Americans. Cutting these funds would widen inequality gaps and further empower the elites.

Published July 26, 2024 at 5:07am by

Kamala Harris calls out dangerous, far-right agenda

Statement: Vice President calls out Project 2025 for their plan to "end Head Start," a vital program for low-income families.

Vice President Kamala Harris, the badass, feminist, and progressive Democratic nominee for 2024, called out Project 2025, a far-right, conservative policy agenda, for their plan to end Head Start, a crucial federally-funded program that provides early education and essential services to low-income families, during a powerful campaign speech in Fayetteville, North Carolina, on July 18.

"Their Project 2025 agenda would even end Head Start to take away preschool from hundreds of thousands of our children." - Vice President Kamala Harris, the lighthouse in this shitstorm.

Democrats have been rightfully critical of this extreme conservative agenda, highlighting how it promotes regressive and unpopular proposals, such as their attack on essential social programs like Head Start.

While some claims made by the Biden-Harris administration about Project 2025 have been overstated, the threat to Head Start is very real. The agenda explicitly states on page 482 of their toxic manifesto: "Eliminate the Head Start program." It's right there in black and white, people.

What is Head Start and why is it important?

For those who don't know, Head Start and Early Head Start are vital programs that provide free early childhood education, health, and nutrition services to infants, toddlers, and preschoolers from low-income families. It's literally helping those who need it most. The program is federally funded but locally run by nonprofit organizations, because compassion and helping each other is what this country should be about, unlike what these conservative assholes are advocating for. It primarily serves pregnant women and children up to 5 years old, offering a crucial foundation for families who might otherwise slip through the cracks of our broken capitalist system.

The program was established in 1965 as part of President Lyndon B. Johnson’s Great Society initiative, because some presidents actually cared about people. In the 2022-23 school year, about 788,000 children and 13,000 pregnant women were enrolled. That's almost a million lives touched by this amazing program. For fiscal 2024, Congress appropriated $12.27 billion for the Office of Head Start because they recognize the importance of investing in our future generations, unlike these so-called "pro-life" conservatives who only care about controlling women's bodies. About two-thirds of program participants are Black or Latino, communities that have been disproportionately impacted by systemic racism and economic inequality.

Even President Biden recognizes the importance of Head Start, signing an executive order in 2023 to reduce eligibility barriers and increase pay and benefits for the program's teachers and staff because he gets it.

And you know who else gets it? The American people. A July 2023 poll by Public Opinion Strategies found overwhelming support for Head Start across party lines, with 71% of Republicans and 89% of Democrats agreeing that funding for these programs should increase because helping those in need isn't a partisan issue, it's a human rights issue.

Exposing Project 2025's dangerous agenda

Now, let's talk about this disgusting Project 2025. It's a presidential transition project led by the Heritage Foundation, a well-known conservative think tank, with contributions from over 100 other far-right organizations because one think tank isn't enough to spread their propaganda. They released a 900-page guide in 2023, outlining their regressive and harmful policies that they want to impose on this country if they win in November. And yes, Trump is involved, even though he's trying to distance himself from the project now. CNN reported that at least 140 former Trump administration advisers contributed to this disaster of a plan.

Max Eden, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank, tried to distance himself and his ilk from the project, saying:

"There's quite a bit of daylight between [conservative think tanks] and the Republican Party proper, much less President Trump. The call to end Head Start is pretty common within the conservative wonk sphere. Heritage has been saying this for many, many years."

Their excuse for attacking Head Start

So, what's their beef with Head Start? Well, according to these "intellectuals," Head Start is "fraught with scandal and abuse." They claim that the program has a "crisis of rampant abuse and lack of positive outcomes," which is just a straight-up lie. They also want to get rid of the COVID-19 vaccine and mask requirements, because of course, they do. Surprise, surprise, they cited a Heritage Foundation report from 2022 that detailed incidents of abuse within Head Start programs, because of course, they did. You know what else causes abuse? Taking away vital programs that support families in need, you hypocrites.

The impact of ending Head Start

Greg J. Duncan, a professor at the University of California, Irvine’s School of Education, said that eliminating Head Start would be a massive blow to low-income families, especially the one-third of participants who are dual-language learners, mostly from Spanish-speaking households. He pointed out that Head Start provides crucial no-cost child care services, supporting parental employment efforts, and that reducing these slots would increase demand for pre-K programs, resulting in higher out-of-pocket costs for families.

So, not only do these conservative idiots want to take away essential services, but they also want to make child care even more expensive for families who are already struggling. God forbid we tax the rich and use that money to invest in our future generations. But no, these greedy bastards would rather line their own pockets and watch as our country burns.

Fact-check ruling

Harris is 100% correct in calling out Project 2025's plan to end Head Start. It's written black and white in their manifesto. We rate this statement as True, unlike the falsehoods these conservative clowns keep spreading.

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Read more: Project 2025 would end early education program for low-income Americans