Received the strangest letter

G

GoodEnuff

Senior Member
This is going to be long and it may be deleted by mods. I will quote this letter in its entirety because a photo isn't clear enough to read it. There was no return address on the envelope, it was obviously a bulk mailing, addressed to my name. My comments are in brackets, bolded phrases are the sender's emphases. It is printed on very heavy, expensive-looking paper.

"Friends,

2025 was a profitable year for wealthy Americans like you. [LOL! I am far from wealthy.]

President Trump's "One Big Beautiful Bill Act" is cutting tax bills by millions of dollars a year, and investment returns have been strong as companies profit from high prices and low labor costs.

Here are some great examples:

If your AGI is $45 million, your income tax savings are over $1 million yer year.

Picture yourself in a new $200,000 sports car -- and you can now finance the purchase and enjoy a bonus income tax deduction of $10,000 per year.

You can now transfer your $30 million estate tax-free, so you no longer have to pay taxes to give your children and grandchildren a life of luxury, free from economic turbulence.

Interest rates will rise from the growing federal debt. If rates go up 2%, a $25 million bond portfolio will generate $500,000 in extra interest every year. [And the market value of the bonds currently held will go down.]

Wealthy Americans should take advantage quickly because Democrats will reverse these changes if they retake Congress. The cuts that funded these opportunities are unpopular with Social Security recipients, farmers, and budget-sensitive voters. The Epstein situation is also a problem for pro-wealth Republicans in Congress, including Clay Higgins of Louisiana and Jeff Hurd of Colorado.

Be charitable. Your tax-deductible donations are urgently needed. Cuts to U.S. relief programs are expected to add 700,000 extra child deaths per year... and don't forget your local food bank, school, senior center, and church!

Secure your medical access. Consider concierge medical services or medical helicopter transport programs instead of risking long wait times or hospital closures due to Medicaid cutbacks.

Update your estate plan to lock in big tax breaks and learn how to save on purchases over $400,000.

Give to friends. Bigger gift exemptions make it cheaper to help friends and relatives impacted by upcoming cuts to Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and the VA.

Wishing you continued prosperity, and hope to see you at Mar-a-Lago or the beautiful soon-to-be-opened White House Ballroom.

Your Wealth Newsletter Team

[in small print at the bottom] This newsletter is for information and educational purposes only and does not constitute financial, investment, tax, or legal advice."

I can't decide if this is the stupidest political tactic ever or ??? There is a tiny logo-like symbol on the return address and at the bottom of the letter. It does not look familiar to me. I will take it to the post office when I go to town today and ask if they can identify the sender.

I will say that my voter registration states I am registered with a particular party. That is not true; I distinctly remember not naming a party affiliation when I registered to vote.

I went from laughing, to surprise, to wanting to vomit. Edit: And now a bit angry that anyone would think people would fall for this tactic.
 
Nathan said:
Yup, a political donation solicitation, 'tis the season.
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Maybe so, except there is no name/address/website/contact named for where to send anything.
Muskrat said:
Well that was interesting. Seems that it would be a tactic fraught with pitfalls to bulk mail if you are trying to sway Average Joe. Average Joe reaps little of the benefit touted.
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The more I think about it, the more I think it is to make Joe angry at incumbents. This is a rural community, mostly seniors, farmers and "budget-sensitive voters".
 
That's most likely not from a particular politician or political party, but an organization that supports a politician, or a political party, or some new Act or legislation that hasn't been approved by congress yet.

That logo-like symbol is the organization's I.D.. If you know how to do it, your phone or computer might be able to analyze an image of it and tell you who it belongs to. Chat GPT or other AI chatbox might be able to tell you just from a description of it.
 
Murrmurr said:
That's most likely not from a particular politician or political party, but an organization that supports a politician, or a political party, or some new Act or legislation that hasn't been approved by congress yet.

That logo-like symbol is the organization's I.D.. If you know how to do it, your phone or computer might be able to analyze an image of it and tell you who it belongs to. Chat GPT or other AI chatbox might be able to tell you just from a description of it.
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Did the logo search. No results. There is a bar code but will not click/scan on that. Searched every possible identifier on the envelope and letter with no results. AI? Hadn't thought of that. Interestingly, there is a number directly above my name on the envelope, that is also discreetly printed on the letter itself. Whatever I may do with that letter, I can easily be identified by that number? Probably.
 
GoodEnuff said:
Did the logo search. No results. There is a bar code but will not click/scan on that.
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Yeah, don't do that.
GoodEnuff said:
Searched every possible identifier on the envelope and letter with no results. AI? Hadn't thought of that. Interestingly, there is a number directly above my name on the envelope, that is also discreetly printed on the letter itself. Whatever I may do with that letter, I can easily be identified by that number? Probably.
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Hover your mouse over that. And hover it over .....oh. never mind. I was thinking it was an email. If it was, you would see an @whatever by hovering your mouse over the logo.

But yeah, don't click or scan anything.
 
I ran a fact check on it:

Summary Table

Claim [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7]StatusVerification Note
OBBBA LegislationTrueSigned July 4, 2025; extends individual tax cuts permanently.
$1M Tax SavingsTrueKeeping the top bracket at 37% instead of 39.6% saves over $1M on $45M AGI.
$10k Auto Loan DeductionFalse for WealthyThe deduction exists but completely phases out for income over $100k–$200k.
$30M Estate Tax ExclusionTrueThe OBBBA permanently bumped the 2026 limit to $15M/individual ($30M/couple).
Bond Value TrueNew capital deployed at higher rates would indeed net that extra yield..
700,000 Child Aid DeathsTrueVerifiable projection from The Lancet modeling the 2025 USAID budget cuts.
 
I did a search using the first line of the letter and this is what I found:

This letter is a classic advocacy or organizing tactic used by progressive activist groups and progressive-leaning think tanks (such as Inequality.org) to build public support for taxing the ultra-wealthy.

These letters are typically part of coordinated "Tax the Rich" campaigns. Who exactly is behind them depends on the specific context:
The New York Times
  • Progressive Advocacy Groups: Organizations like Patriotic Millionaires or various progressive political action groups frequently draft open letters targeting high-net-worth individuals to advocate for wealth taxes, higher capital gains taxes, and closing tax loopholes.
  • The "Patriotic Millionaires" Group: This is a real, prominent organization of affluent Americans who actively campaign to raise their own taxes in order to reduce economic inequality and fund social programs.
  • Generic Mass Mailings: Sometimes, left-leaning grassroots movements will send these letters or postcards as mass-mailing campaigns to zip codes known to house high-income earners, hoping to shame or convince wealthy residents to support tax reform.
The letter is essentially a call to action meant for public debate rather than a targeted threat or a scam. You can learn more about this advocacy space through Patriotic Millionaires, which tracks and organizes these exact initiatives.
 
I find this letter offensive from any side of the political spectrum, no matter how one looks at it. Does anyone think that a wealthy person does not already know the obvious information stated? I also believe it is targeted at rural populations, which according to news reports post-election 2024, pushed the current administration into office. It seems incendiary and we certainly do NOT need more of that from anyone.

The fact that it is anonymous, to me, is exactly that. Incendiary. And it is the anonymity that has drawn my attention. Why send this anonymously? So...today, when I went to town for a few personal errands, I made three extra stops.

First, the post office, who looked at the envelope and said they have no way to trace the sender.

Second, I went to the voter registration office and asked what the record shows on my registration. It shows exactly what I declared: "Non-affiliated". This may be why my name is on someone's mailing list, in an attempt to sway my vote? Then why, when I have done a search of my real name, does it show my party affiliation as " (name one) "? I did learn that when one votes in a primary election, the party ballot on which you voted is public information. That answers that question. News to me.

After that, I sat in my car and wondered who/what organization may have access to information on the source of this letter. On a lark, the third stop was the county sheriff's office. I showed my ID for credibility, handed the clerk the letter and envelope, and calmly explained that I am interested in knowing the sender, not filing a complaint because there is no illegality involved. Perhaps they have access to information that others do not? No help there except she did scan the bar code on the letter and said it had nothing in it. So the bar code is fake.

The bar code is fake, the logo is unidentifiable, the company name ? at the bottom is not found anywhere. Since it is prepaid postage, bulk mail, there is no postmark to know from whence it came. I seriously think this is a psyop, a manipulation. And if there is ONE thing I hate, it is that. Differ from my opinion, I am fine with that and can have a calm, respectful discussion. Stand up for your beliefs! Exercise your First Amendment right to free speech. But to hide behind anonymity is the ultimate and suspicious act of cowardice and deceit.
 
Trish said:
I did a search using the first line of the letter and this is what I found:

This letter is a classic advocacy or organizing tactic used by progressive activist groups and progressive-leaning think tanks (such as Inequality.org) to build public support for taxing the ultra-wealthy.

These letters are typically part of coordinated "Tax the Rich" campaigns. Who exactly is behind them depends on the specific context:
The New York Times
  • Progressive Advocacy Groups: Organizations like Patriotic Millionaires or various progressive political action groups frequently draft open letters targeting high-net-worth individuals to advocate for wealth taxes, higher capital gains taxes, and closing tax loopholes.
  • The "Patriotic Millionaires" Group: This is a real, prominent organization of affluent Americans who actively campaign to raise their own taxes in order to reduce economic inequality and fund social programs.
  • Generic Mass Mailings: Sometimes, left-leaning grassroots movements will send these letters or postcards as mass-mailing campaigns to zip codes known to house high-income earners, hoping to shame or convince wealthy residents to support tax reform.
The letter is essentially a call to action meant for public debate rather than a targeted threat or a scam. You can learn more about this advocacy space through Patriotic Millionaires, which tracks and organizes these exact initiatives.
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Thank you for this information. Interesting. Except I am certainly not a high net worth individual (that laughter you hear is me). If you were to look up my house in public records, you would see that it is in the lower assessed property valuations in this area. And the median income here is low, also. Except I think my plumber and electrician are probably up there, doing quite well. I am doing my best to keep them in a comfortable lifestyle.
 
HoneyNut said:
I ran a fact check on it:

Summary Table

Claim [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7]StatusVerification Note
OBBBA LegislationTrueSigned July 4, 2025; extends individual tax cuts permanently.
$1M Tax SavingsTrueKeeping the top bracket at 37% instead of 39.6% saves over $1M on $45M AGI.
$10k Auto Loan DeductionFalse for WealthyThe deduction exists but completely phases out for income over $100k–$200k.
$30M Estate Tax ExclusionTrueThe OBBBA permanently bumped the 2026 limit to $15M/individual ($30M/couple).
Bond Value TrueNew capital deployed at higher rates would indeed net that extra yield..
700,000 Child Aid DeathsTrueVerifiable projection from The Lancet modeling the 2025 USAID budget cuts.
Click to expand...
OBBA Legislation: True. However, this state discontinued certain tax deductions for seniors that almost exactly increased their state income taxes by the amount the federal tax decreased. Did our federal representatives vote for it because they knew their state would get that money?
$1M Tax Savings: True. But, according to an AI search, less than 0.1% of the US population has income over $3.3 million. There are very few who earn $45 million.
$10k Auto Loan Deduction: False for Wealthy. but true for lower income workers.
$30M Estate Tax Exclusion: True. But, the OBBBA made permanent the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) which had temporarily doubled the federal exclusion amount, increasing it from $5 million to $10 million per person, with annual inflation adjustments. In 2025, the inflation-adjusted exclusion stood at $13.99 million (per person, so double for married couples). Not much difference.
Bond Value: True. But, when interest rates go up, bond values go down. If one owns bonds when rates go up, they could sell those bonds at a capital loss in order to increase the (taxable) interest they would receive if they purchased the newer, higher rate bonds.
700,000 Child Aid Deaths: True (maybe) This is an estimate, from what I can glean. However, if one is interested, see the report issued by the Office of the Inspector General on active investigations into misused/misdirected funds by USAID, where this estimate originates.

The points made in the letter are sort of true, but not the whole truth. Why does this not surprise me?

Thank you, @HoneyNut. I appreciate your research into this.
 
This sounds like the start of a good thriller or science fiction story. "It all started when I got that darn letter. Even though everyone else I showed it to kept saying 'It's just junk, just toss it', something about it intrigued me. So I started looking into it and that's when it started getting really strange."
 
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