December, 20 2021, 03:59pm EDT
For Immediate Release
Contact:
Tyler Kruse, Senior Communications Specialist, Greenpeace USA, tkruse@greenpeace.org
Manchin Turning His Back on Families Means Biden Administration Must Take Executive Action
WASHINGTON
A statement from Janet Redman, Climate Campaign Director at Greenpeace USA:
"Senator Manchin is a fossil-fueled sociopath on a Maserati joy-ride while he lets the world burn. When negotiations got tough, Manchin chose to walk away rather than pass a bill that would help millions of families put food on the table, make life-saving medicine affordable, and build a livable future because it threatened the fossil fuel industry that sends him dividend checks.
"The reasons for which Manchin claims he does not support the Build Back Better Act don't add up. West Virginians support the legislation. The headline of the WV Gazette on Sunday read "We need this so bad". Manchin's constituents even kayaked up to his yacht to make their support for the bill known. Goldman Sachs cited Manchin's position on the Build Back Better Act as one reason for its cuts to the U.S. GDP projections. No matter how Manchin tries to skew the facts, this bill is good for West Virginian families and the country's economy.
"At the end of the day, Manchin cares less about his constituents than he does about the fossil fuel industry. This looks a lot like the strategy a now-former Exxon lobbyist seemed to layout on video in the summer - "stick to the roads and bridges and a lot of the negative stuff comes out." For Manchin and his corporate overlords, the "negative stuff" he's vaguely decried is the investment in climate solutions, renewable energy, and environmental justice our planet and communities need to survive. This will be his defining legacy and history will not forget his selfishness and casual disregard for the American people.
"President Biden now has a mandate to pull out all the stops to confront a rogue fossil fuel industry in 2022. We expect a full-court press of executive actions to end fossil fuel expansion - the source of the industry's power in Washington, DC. Power it uses to fund political agents of chaos like Manchin and derail climate policy. While disappointing, Manchin laying his cards on the table is also a liberating force. Biden must go all-in with executive authority to address the climate emergency and do what he promised."
Greenpeace is a global, independent campaigning organization that uses peaceful protest and creative communication to expose global environmental problems and promote solutions that are essential to a green and peaceful future.
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Nearly Half of Americans Say Their Financial Security Is Getting Worse Under Trump
In a recent focus group, one voter who supported the president in 2024 said Trump's recent claims that the economy is strong were "delusional."
Dec 29, 2025
New polling from The Guardian on Monday bolstered recent analyses that have shown low consumer confidence and job creation numbers and higher household costs and unemployment: Americans are struggling under President Donald Trump's economic policies, and they increasingly believe the White House—for all Trump's claims that the economy is strong—is to blame.
The poll, conducted by Harris for the news outlet between December 11 and 13, found that respondents were twice as likely to say their financial security is getting worse as they were to report an improvement.
Nearly half of those surveyed said their financial situation is worsening, and 57% said they perceived that the US is in a recession—although that would be defined by two quarters of negative growth in the US economy, which the country has not experienced at this point.
Despite that, the poll—along with recent focus groups including members of Trump's 2024 base, held by Syracuse University and reported on Monday by NBC News—illustrated how Trump's focus on imposing tariffs on countries around the world and his promotion of policies that have raised household bills for millions of people have left Americans feeling pessimistic about their own financial health and that of the country.
Democratic voters were far more likely than Republicans to tell Harris that their financial security is getting worse, with 52% of the latter saying so compared with 27% of the former.
But 54% of independent voters agreed that they are struggling more financially, despite Trump's recent claim that he would give the economy a grade of "A-plus-plus-plus-plus-plus.”
"We have seen a shift among these voters collectively, cracks in their faith, more questioning, oscillating, or outright change of heart about Trump."
Respondents from across the political spectrum were more likely than ever before to blame the White House for their financial struggles, Harris said.
More than three-quarters of Democrats blamed Trump's policies and "government management of the economy," along with 72% of independents and more than half of Republicans—55%.
Analyses this year have shown Trump's tariffs, which he claimed soon after taking office would "liberate" Americans from the national debt, are raising costs for small businesses and making it harder for them to stay afloat, and are passing on higher prices to consumers—resulting in ballooning grocery bills for millions of Americans.
Trump made lowering grocery prices a central promise of his campaign last year, along with repeatedly pledging that he was "going to get your energy prices down by 50%.”
But the president's embrace of artificial intelligence and the expansion of data centers—something he and congressional Republicans have aggressively pushed states to allow despite public disapproval—is unlikely to result in lower utility prices for households. Those costs have risen by 13% since Trump took office, with the president's cancellation of renewable energy projects to blame as well as energy-sucking data centers.
The focus groups held by Syracuse recently found that voters who supported the president last year have rapidly grown discouraged by his economic policies, including his tariffs, which one participant called "a tax on the American people."
"That’s who pays for it, so I don’t support it,” David S. of New Jersey told NBC. “The people who are buying those imports are paying the tax.”
With less than a year until voters are set to decide if Republicans should keep their majorities in the US House and Senate, fewer than half of the people surveyed in four focus groups said they believed Trump has made it a priority to fight inflation and reduce their costs. Robert L. of Virginia told Syracuse researchers that the president's recent comments painting a sunny picture of the economy were "delusional."
Another Virginia voter, Justin K., said the president has been focused on "prosecuting his political enemies" and "pardoning people" and has not "tried at all" to tackle the rising cost of living.
A number of those surveyed said they had decided to back Democratic candidates Abigail Spanberger and Mikie Sherrill in this year's gubernatorial elections in Virginia and New Jersey just a year after supporting Trump.
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"But as the year wore on, we have seen a shift among these voters collectively, cracks in their faith, more questioning, oscillating, or outright change of heart about Trump," Talev said. "What we almost never see is a wish for a do-over vote or a rush toward Democrats for the answer."
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China Announces 'Major Military Drills' Around Taiwan in Wake of Massive US Arms Sale
The Chinese military drills appear to be "an effort to gain air and maritime superiority and cut off external military support" for Taiwan, said one expert.
Dec 29, 2025
The Chinese military on Monday announced it was conducting "major military drills" around Taiwan weeks after the US announced an $11 billion arms deal with the island nation.
As reported by CNN, China is mobilizing its army, navy, and air force units around Taiwan in a move that it says should serve as a "serious warning" to any "external" forces interfering with the island, which China has long claimed as its territory.
Taiwan's government, meanwhile, responded by accusing China of conducting a campaign of "military intimidation," while vowing to "take concrete action to defend the values of democracy and freedom."
Su Tzu-yun, a research fellow at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research in Taipei, told German broadcaster Deutsche Welle that China's military drills appear to be "an effort to gain air and maritime superiority and cut off external military support."
William Yang, a senior Northeast Asia analyst at the International Crisis Group think tank, told DW that while Chinese military exercises around Taiwan are now regular occurrences, the speed with which China ramped up its latest exercises "shows that the Chinese People's Liberation Army is becoming increasingly capable of rapidly deploying forces to combat-ready positions."
Although China did not mention the US directly when denouncing "external" powers, CNN noted that the decision to launch military drills came weeks after the US reached an $11 billion arms deal with Taiwan that included HIMARS rocket systems, anti-tank and anti-armor missiles, drones, howitzers, and military software.
China responded to this arms sale directly last week by announcing sanctions against US defense firms including Boeing, Northrop Grumman Systems Corporation, and L3Harris Maritime Services, according to the Guardian.
In announcing the sanctions against US firms, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson emphasized that "the Taiwan issue is the core of China's core interests and the first red line that cannot be crossed in China-US relations," while warning that "any provocative actions that cross the line on the Taiwan issue will be met with a strong response from China."
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'Trump's Economic Policies Did This': US Business Bankruptcies Surge to 15-Year High
At least 717 US companies filed for bankruptcy through November 2025—the highest figure recorded since the aftermath of the Great Recession.
Dec 29, 2025
Businesses in the United States have filed for bankruptcy this year at a level not seen since 2010 as President Donald Trump's tariff regime has jacked up costs for companies in manufacturing and other major sectors.
Citing data from S&P Global Market Intelligence, the Washington Post reported over the weekend that at least 717 US companies filed for bankruptcy through November 2025, the highest figure recorded since the aftermath of the Great Recession and a 14% increase compared to the same period last year.
"Companies cited inflation and interest rates among the factors contributing to their financial challenges, as well as Trump administration trade policies that have disrupted supply chains and pushed up costs," the Post noted. "But in a shift from previous years, the rise in filings is most apparent among industrials—companies tied to manufacturing, construction, and transportation. The sector has been hit hard by President Donald Trump’s ever-fluid tariff policies—which he’s long insisted would revive American manufacturing."
Recent data shows that the US has lost 49,000 manufacturing jobs since Trump's return to office.
The bankruptcy figures add to the growing pile of evidence showing that Trump's tariffs and broader policy agenda have harmed the US economy—weakening job growth, driving the unemployment rate up to the highest level since the Covid-19 pandemic, and worsening the nation's cost-of-living crisis.
Democrats immediately seized on the new reporting as evidence of Trump's failed stewardship of the US economy, messaging that's likely to be central as the 2026 midterms approach.
Trump's economic policies did this. pic.twitter.com/tRfcNxAyAU
— Sean Casten (@SeanCasten) December 27, 2025
Ken Martin, chair of the Democratic National Committee, said Monday that "when Donald Trump signed his Big Ugly Bill into law, he cemented the Republican Party as the party of billionaires and special interests—not working families, farmers, or small business owners."
"While millions of working families are already being squeezed to afford groceries, utilities, and rent, Trump chose to strip them of their healthcare and food assistance just so he could give his ultrawealthy friends and donors an extra buck," said Martin. "Make no mistake: Trump’s ‘signature achievement’ will be the nail in the coffin for the Republican majority when voters head to the polls next November."
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