I believe the term you were looking for is hyperbole (look it up).  What Phyllis is describing is a scandal--robbing the poor--and leaving a diabetic woman in jail without food and in that case endangering her life--instead of finding and jailing the people who robbed them--and more.  We hear about these grave injustices so often--(how about the millions who lost their homes when the mortgage Ponzi scheme failed in 2007)--hyperbole is used to heighten our jaded emotions--in this case justly.  Why are you criticizing a valid use of exaggeration?