Act Now: Unemployment Hits 4-Year High While Trump Claims Economy Is Thriving

President Trump addressed the nation on December 17, 2025 and claimed the economy is thriving. Government data tells a different story. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports job growth has flatlined since April. In November, unemployment hit 4.6 percent, the highest rate in four years. We now have 700,000 more unemployed Americans than a year ago. Trump claimed inflation “stopped.” It has not. Prices continue rising, and his tariffs are making it worse. Yale Budget Lab found tariffs now cost the average American household between $1,200 and $1,800 per year. Energy bills jumped 7.4 percent year over year according to the Energy Information Administration. Holiday shopping cost families an extra $132 per person in tariff expenses. Meanwhile, the 400 richest Americans gained $1.2 trillion in wealth in a single year. Their combined fortune reached $6.6 trillion while working families struggle to afford groceries and utilities. The enhanced ACA premium tax credits expire December 31. If Congress fails to act, 77 percent of marketplace enrollees live in states Trump won in 2024, and they will see premiums more than double. A 60-year-old couple in West Virginia earning $85,000 would face costs rising from $7,225 to over $54,000 annually. The Congressional Budget Office projects 4.2 million additional uninsured Americans. This is not a partisan issue. It is a healthcare crisis waiting to happen in Republican and Democratic districts alike. Trump claims his immigration crackdown targets dangerous criminals. ICE data shows 73 percent of detainees have no criminal convictions. Only 7 to 10 percent have violent crime convictions. We are spending billions to detain people who pose no threat while private prison corporations that donated $2.8 million to Trump profit from expanded detention contracts. The “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” gives households earning over $1 million an average tax cut of $97,000 while those earning $40,000 receive $393. The bottom 10 percent of Americans will see income decrease by 3.1 percent due to benefit cuts. The top 10 percent gain 2.7 percent from tax cuts. The CBO confirms this legislation adds $3.3 to $4.5 trillion to the national debt. I urge you to demand healthcare subsidy extensions, reject tax cuts that favor billionaires over working families, and push back on tariffs that function as a regressive tax on the poor. These are not partisan demands. They are requests for policies that serve constituents rather than donors.