Imagine no more annoying robocalls.No more spam texts.
No more hidden fees.No more jumping through hoops to cancel subscriptions or file an insurance claim.A group of Democratic policy veterans believes that daily annoyances like these have become a real economic problem.
They even have a name for it: "the annoyance economy." Taking it on is one plank in a broader governing agenda they're assembling for a future Democratic president.They're calling it "Project 2029."Sound familiar?If you followed politics at all in 2024, you probably heard about Project 2025.
Released by The Heritage Foundation, it laid out a conservative policy blueprint for a second Trump administration.Democrats attacked the project nonstop as extreme, and Trump distanced himself from it on the campaign trail.
But what had looked like an election liability became a governing asset: The Trump administration came into office with a ready-to-go policy agenda and quickly began pursuing many of Project 2025's proposals.That experience apparently left an impression on the other side of the aisle.Project 2029 aims to give a future Democratic president a similarly ready-to-go governing blueprint.
And I recently learned that a former classmate of mine, Chad Maisel, is the executive director of the effort, so I called him up.Maisel previously served as a special assistant to President Biden on the White House Domestic Policy Council."I think the lesson from Project 2025," Maisel says, "is just the importance of preparation." He wants a future Democratic president to "have a bookshelf full of really bold, transformational ideas" that are ready to be deployed on their first day in office.Project 2029 is still in its early stages.
They'll be releasing proposals on a rolling basis over the next year or so.Much of what they've previewed so far is what you'd probably expect from Democrats in today's economy: ideas to lower child care costs, make health care and housing more affordable, reduce energy bills...