Every day, our inboxes are hit with political emails promising to save us from some impending catastrophe. Often, these emails vilify a familiar villain: big businesses, billionaires, or anyone perceived as too successful. Becca Balint’s recent email is no exception—an appeal riddled with emotional blackmail, vague accusations, and convenient scapegoating.
But what if Becca were brutally honest? Let’s rewrite her email the way it should have been written—if politicians ever owned up to their roles in the problems they’re so quick to blame on others.
The Honest Email
Subject: Let’s Talk About Spending (and My Job)
Dear Neighbor,
As a member of the Judiciary Committee, I have a responsibility to serve you, hold our government accountable, and ensure that our tax dollars are spent wisely. Unfortunately, our government is failing in this respect—and I’m a part of that failure.
I want to be honest about what’s happening:
- Government Overspending is Out of Control: Congress, including me, has been greenlighting budgets that grow the national debt and drive inflation. Instead of reining in waste, we’ve created programs that overlap, underdeliver, or outright fail to serve the people who need them most.
- It’s Easier to Blame Businesses Than Ourselves: Let’s face it, criticizing “corporate greed” is a lot easier than explaining why we’ve mismanaged trillions in taxpayer dollars. It shifts attention away from the fact that government overspending and poor fiscal policy often create the economic instability we blame on others.
- Emotional Blackmail Works: By framing businesses as villains—calling them price gougers, monopolists, and tax cheats—I know I can stir up anger and raise donations. But here’s the truth: most businesses are made up of hardworking people, from CEOs to janitors, who drive innovation, create jobs, and keep the economy moving.
- We Don’t Define Limits: When we say “fair share,” we avoid defining what that means. Why? Because if we admitted there’s a Max Tax—a limit to what’s reasonable to take from anyone—we’d lose the power to demand more. So we keep it vague, leaving you angry and businesses defensive.
- My Job Isn’t to Control Prices: Businesses set prices based on supply, demand, and market conditions. My real job is to oversee government spending, but instead of addressing fraud, inefficiency, and bloated budgets, I focus on popular talking points about corporate greed to distract from my own lack of fiscal oversight.
I know this might not sound inspiring, but it’s the truth. If you want meaningful change, we need to start with government accountability—holding ourselves responsible for how your money is spent and whether the programs we fund deliver value.
It’s time we stop using businesses as scapegoats and start asking how we in Washington are contributing to the very problems we claim to solve.
Sincerely,
Becca
Breaking Down the Real Issues
Becca’s actual email doesn’t look like this. Instead, it’s a familiar concoction of anger-stoking rhetoric and unsubstantiated claims, like “corporate greed” driving inequality. Let’s unpack why her email—and others like it—doesn’t hold up.
Emotional Blackmail and Scapegoating
The email pits businesses against the rest of us, perpetuating a divisive narrative. It suggests that success in business is inherently exploitative, ignoring the contributions of millions of workers, from executives to frontline employees. By focusing on “corporate greed,” it distracts from the government’s role in creating inflation through reckless spending and poorly targeted programs.
Reality Check: Businesses are accountable to consumers and markets. Governments, meanwhile, operate on tax dollars and are rarely held accountable for their inefficiency.
What Does “Fair Share” Even Mean?
Becca claims that billionaires and corporations aren’t paying their “fair share” but conveniently avoids defining what that share is. Is it 30%? 50%? Everything above a certain income level?
Enter Max Tax: If politicians like Becca were honest, they’d establish a clear upper limit for taxation. But they don’t—because “fair share” is a rhetorical weapon, not a policy. Keeping it vague allows them to demand endlessly more without ever defining enough.
Reality Check: When there’s no Max Tax, the sky’s the limit—and so is the government’s appetite for your money.
The Role of Government Overspending
Here’s the part Becca won’t talk about: Congress holds the purse strings, and it’s their job to control government spending. But instead of tackling waste, fraud, and inefficiency, politicians focus on businesses’ pricing decisions—something they don’t control.
Examples of Government Waste: Billions lost in pandemic relief fraud. Redundant programs that overlap in purpose but fail to deliver results. Special interest spending that benefits donors, not constituents.
Reality Check: It’s easier to blame Amazon for raising prices than to explain why Congress can’t balance a budget.
The Real Harm: Division and Distrust
Emails like Becca’s don’t build communities—they tear them apart. They make producers and consumers distrust one another. They pit neighbors against businesses, framing success as greed. They erode faith in economic systems while failing to hold government accountable.
Reality Check: If politicians focused on uniting communities instead of scapegoating businesses, we might actually solve problems.
Conclusion: Let’s Refocus
Becca’s email is a masterclass in distraction—blaming businesses for problems created, in large part, by government overspending and mismanagement. What we need isn’t more finger-pointing but real accountability.
Imagine a world where politicians: defined a Max Tax—an upper limit on what they take. Focused on cutting waste and fraud instead of demonizing success. Built trust by uniting communities rather than dividing them.
Until that happens, you’ll keep seeing emails like Becca’s—long on emotion, short on solutions, and always ending with a link to donate.
Humorously, FYIVT could use your support!
Dave Soulia | FYIVT
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