Chronic Rants

“Who came up with this system of the haves and the have-nots anyway?”
“That would be the haves.”

I can’t remember where I heard that, but it feels appropriate right now. That’s because I am frustrated not only by my lack of income, but especially by the scrutiny my measly income receives.

A few weeks ago, the New York Times broke a story that revealed Trump paid almost no taxes. Despite his huge amounts of money, he found ways around his obligations. Maybe the IRS took a close look at his taxes and determined it was all legitimate. Maybe not. Either way, he got away with it. And he’s far from the only one.

Meanwhile, I am receiving Social Security, housing, food, health insurance, and other benefits which allow me to sort of almost just about but not quite cover all of my basic bills. Of course, they don’t allow for “extras” like a vacation, big car repairs, a new used car when mine eventually bites the dust, or medical treatments that aren’t covered by insurance, and even without those things the money isn’t enough. So of course the solution is to try and earn money. Yet I am under such scrutiny that this is nearly impossible. And even without earning money, just living life is far too complicated because of the scrutiny.

The benefits cliff is not a new topic. It’s counter-intuitive to helping people get off of benefits. There’s an all-or-none setup that doesn’t work because my health is not all-or-none. Some months I can do more, some months less. Why should I be punished for that? But I digress.

I am not talking about the absurd benefits cliff itself, but about the intrusiveness of the entire setup. It is invasive and insulting.

I no longer have any financial privacy. Multiple benefits offices have me fill out detailed and intrusive forms. They look not only at my taxes, but also at my bank statements, including PayPal and Venmo. They question every deposit. For some, I am required to provide proof of the purpose of each deposit. When I can not show a cancelled check because my bank no longer provides these on bank statements, I must then pay to get them from the bank. When a friend gives me money, the office expects a notarized statement as to its purpose.

Seriously? I’m supposed to ask friends and others to notarize a statement about why they paid me?!? And about about strangers who send me $50 via PayPal or Venmo for buying some random thing that I’m selling? This is completely unrealistic, not to mention embarrassing! How exactly am I supposed to ask for this?

Example: “Do you remember how seven months ago I paid for that gift for Susan? And you know how you reimbursed me for your half the next day by Venmo? Could you give me a notarized statement that you weren’t paying me for anything but were just reimbursing me? I’d rather not say why.”

Yeah, right.

Then there’s actually trying to earn money. The limits for what I can earn without losing my disability benefits are really low – lower than my actual benefits. But long before I hit that number, there’s another number that’s scary: the one that triggers greater scrutiny from the government. Technically, reaching that number every month shouldn’t be a problem. After all, I wouldn’t be earning enough to get kicked off benefits. Still, we all know that the last thing we want is more attention here, especially these days, so I want to avoid getting anywhere near that number. Why give prying eyes more reason to examine me?

I am hugely resentful. Why can’t I simply try to earn as much as possible? Chances are I wouldn’t earn enough to get kicked off benefits (every time I have tried to work in recent years, I got a lot sicker and had to give up) but I would sure like to try and earn enough to buy some new clothes! And why can’t I simply live like a normal person who lays out the money for a shared birthday gift?

I get that the government wants to avoid fraud. They don’t want me getting benefits while also receiving $5000 per month from various friends and not reporting it on my taxes. But really, what are the odds of anything like that happening? Are there really going to be so many people on benefits who find a way to get enough money that doesn’t have to be reported on their taxes that it justifies this level of scrutiny? Would it really justify the salaries of the people paid for this scrutiny? Meanwhile, they make me explain that the $50 deposit into my checking account was a Chanukah gift from my aunt and no, I don’t wan to ask her for a notarized letter confirming that.

Now, let’s say someone was being deceptive. They received benefits they shouldn’t receive. The average SSDI payment for adults in 2020 is $1258 and the average SSI payments are $783 for an individual and $1175 for a couple. Meanwhile, we watch rich people and companies avoid paying millions of dollars in taxes. One rich person’s yearly taxes, if properly paid, would probably cover the lifetime disability benefits of quite a few people.

A lot of people find it unfair that they pay more in taxes than rich people do. I feel the same. But at the moment I am pissed that they get away with it while I need to justify every penny. Where is the scrutiny? I find it hard to believe the government couldn’t catch these folks if given the resources. Wouldn’t it make more sense to devote the salaries of staff to catch someone who owes millions, instead of focusing on disabled folks, the majority of whom are just trying their best to cover their bills?

A lot of people argue that the big difference is that disabled folks are living off of government benefits, so the government has to be sure that money isn’t being misspent. Uh huh. Tell me, do rich people not use government services? I’m pretty sure they use government infrastructure, their businesses benefit from people who attended public education, many of their businesses thrive because they pay such low wages that employees must use food stamps, and so much more. Many of them attended public school and some were even on food stamps themselves in the past. They benefit, even if their line is more squiggly than my direct one.

I am not suggesting that benefits should be handed out without any follow-up but maybe, just maybe, our current system goes absurdly overboard. I think we need a system where I can be reimbursed for laying out money for a birthday gift without having to jump through hoops.