Last week, Donald Trump received the nomination of the Republican Party at their national convention. This wasn’t a surprise, and neither was the fact that yet again he turned in the longest acceptance speech in modern American political convention history at 90 minutes. More important though, than these aspects of the political horse race is the economic pain a second Trump administration would deliver to working class and middle class Americans.

You may have heard Donald Trump deny ever having heard of Project 2025. Don’t believe him. It was drafted by the people working hardest to get him elected (many of whom served in his administration), includes many policies he tried to implement last time, and promises in its introductory note, to be read by “the 47th President of the United States.” That’s code for Trump, which allows them to assert they are not supporting a specific candidate.

As we said in last week’s Blue Review, Trump’s closest advisors and previous officials participated in creating Project 2025, and it is the blueprint for the policies of the Trump administration, though he pretends not to have heard of it.

The economic policies outlined in Project 2025 are troubling. The plan includes massive tax cuts for the wealthy and for corporations, which would exacerbate income inequality and reduce revenue for essential public services. Project 2025 also calls for cutting social safety nets, including Social Security and Medicare, under the guise of fiscal responsibility. This would leave many Americans, particularly the elderly and vulnerable, without the support they rely on and for programs they paid into, in many cases for the entirety of their working lives.

Let’s focus on one proposal in Project 2025 that will affect all of us, changes to the Federal Income Tax.

Currently there are seven tax brackets: 10%, 12%, 22%, 24%, 32%, 35%, and 37%, based on your level of income. These brackets are designed so that more tax is paid by people who can best afford it. For example, if you are married and filing jointly and your taxable income is between $23,201 and $94,300, your Federal tax rate is 12%. But someone earning $3 million pays 37% on their earnings in excess of $731,201.

Project 2025 proposes that we have only two tax rates: 15% and 30%. Income up to $168,000 would be taxed at 15%, while income over $168,000 would be taxed at 30%. By getting rid of the 10% and 12% tax rates for lower incomes and the 32%, 35%, and 37% tax rates for higher incomes, Project 2025 shifts the tax burden from the people who can best afford it to the people who can least afford it. For example, a married couple with two children and an annual income of $90,000 would see an increase of $2,600 under this proposal. Conversely, a couple with income over $3 million would see a $325,000 reduction in their taxes.

Additionally, Project 2025 proposes eliminating most tax deductions and credits. Although the ones to be eliminated were not specified, the Child Tax Credit is a likely candidate. This is a deduction of $2,000 per child. In our family of four example, loss of this credit would further increase their taxes by $4,000, to a total increase of $6,600.

I would encourage all of you to familiarize yourselves with the details of Project 2025 and share this information with your family and friends. You and they should all commit to voting Democratic up and down the ticket in November.