Project 2025, the 900-page document meant to serve as a roadmap for Donald Trump’s second term in office, published by the Heritage Foundation and written by MAGA loyalists, is a frightening outline for what can happen if Trump were elected to a second term.

Although Trump says he knows nothing about the publication, this is another one of his lies. Many of its writers served in his first administration and most likely will serve in his second, if he is elected.

The document is “an authoritarian playbook,” giving almost absolute power to the president and destroying the U.S. democratic system of checks and balances, according to Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Maryland.

Raskin was among several politicians and policy experts who spoke recently on Project 2025 at a half-day seminar in Washington, D.C., organized by the Center for American Progress.

“If you are not outraged,” by what’s being proposed, then “you are not awake,” Maya Wiley, president and CEO, Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, told the event.

Three state legislators, from Florida, Iowa and Texas, pointed out that some of the document’s proposals are already being put into effect at the state level, including restrictions on reproductive rights, and strict school regulations on what can be taught, and on what books are acceptable for students to read.

D.R. Richardson, co-founder of the green energy company Elephant Energy, spoke of the negative effect Project 2025 would have on the environment, pointing out that the document proposes a shift away from current climate initiatives, and emphasizes the expansion of fossil fuel production and the reduction of regulatory oversight. The plan also would harm workers, he said, because it  proposes eliminating both overtime pay and the minimum wage, and getting rid of OSHA, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

It is important that every citizen learn what the Project 2025 document is proposing. Otherwise, we citizens could be sleepwalking into a future nightmare.

Wendy Ross

Wiscasset