Project 2025 in the First 3 Weeks

Welcome to a world of political theater so absurd, so drenched in double-dealing and bureaucratic bungling, that it would be comical—were it not so catastrophic. The latest act in this tragic farce? The Trump administration, in its infinite wisdom, issued, and then rescinded, a sweeping order to freeze federal funds, throwing the country into a panic, and leaving states scrambling to access basic programs like Medicaid and Head Start. The White House memo, as kooky as it was audacious, amounted to a government shutdown by decree—illegal, unconstitutional, and, if we are being honest, wholly predictable. Cary Harrison is reader-supported. With published FCC plans to terminate 1500 public radio & PBS stations (NY Times Feb ‘25), please become a paid or free subscriber to continue our curated reports which we supply to students around the world. And yet, despite the memo’s hasty retraction, the damage has been done. The administration still clings to its broader mission: to withhold funding from anything it deems a threat to its ideological purity—whether that be so-called ‘Marxist equity,’ transgender rights, or FEMA disaster aid for the wrong sorts of people… or the dreaded windmill on some farmland when a beautiful oil Derek would glow like a reflecting rainbow at Sunset. Meanwhile, the American taxpayer, that much-abused beast of burden, is left bewildered, exhausted, and uncertain about which services will exist tomorrow, and which will be yanked out from underfoot like a cheap carnival rug. Poor grandma stripped of her Social Security, which she paid into for seven decades and may be relegated to eating little Friskies from the $.99 store. Do you think she feels baited and switched? Joining us today is Karen Dolan, director of the Criminalization of Race and Poverty program at the Institute for Policy Studies, who has been watching this reckless gambit unfold in real time. She warns that this isn’t just incompetence—it’s a calculated effort to cause chaos, keeping the public too disoriented to fight back as their hard-earned tax dollars are funneled into the pockets of billionaires. Karen Dolan, welcome to the Cary Harrison files! We hope you'll consider becoming a paid subscriber—it’s the only way we can keep pushing back against what’s happening to our nation and continue this fight. It’s as simple as clicking here: Cary Harrison.com LinkedIn: TheCaryHarrison https://www.linkedin.com/in/thecaryharrison/ Instagram: @TheCaryHarrison https://www.instagram.com/CaryHarrisonMedia TikTok: @theCaryHarrison https://www.tiktok.com/@thecaryharrison Facebook: TheCaryHarrison https://www.facebook.com/thecaryharrison Youtube: @CaryHarrison https://www.youtube.com/@caryharrison Twitter/X: @CaryHarrison_ https://x.com/CaryHarrison_ Cary FB Fan Page: https://www.facebook.com/goharrison © Copyrights by Audiences United, LLC All Rights Reserved. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit caryharrison.substack.com/subscribe