,
15 tweets,
2 min read
Read on Twitter
WaPo is out with its latest on #SocialSecurity disability benefits and boy do I have some thoughts. /1
More than anything the piece underscores how tragically meager disability benefits are. /2
One of the people it profiles literally digs up and sells roots to survive when her benefits run out every month, hoping for $50 or so. /3
This could have been a really valuable piece–if it didn’t paint disability beneficiaries as “gaming the system” (as w/the whole series)… /4
…this time, by portraying their attempts to supplement poverty-level benefits with ridiculously tiny amounts of income as "illegal work." /5
…this time, by portraying their attempts to supplement poverty-level benefits with ridiculously tiny amounts of income as "illegal work." /5
SHORTER WAPO: We must crack down on mastermind fraudsters who dig up roots so they can eat after their $735 in monthly benefits run out. /6
But work isn't just permitted—it’s encouraged. And small amounts of income (like, say, $50 from roots) don’t affect your benefits at all. /7
Meanwhile, that people scraping by on poverty-level benefits are digging up roots to survive isn’t evidence that they “aren’t disabled.” /8
It’s evidence that humans need food and have survival instincts. (Hey, now there's a better headline for this piece!) /9
SSI benefits are at most $735/mo. Avg is much less: closer to $500/mo. That means living on $23/day at best, far below the poverty line. /10
SSDI benefits are slightly more adequate, on average $1,171/mo, for a whopping $37/day. Imagine trying to live on that. /11
Compare: Avg rent for 1BR apartment in WaPo’s hometown of DC is $2035/mo, nearly 2x the typical SSDI benefit, 4x the typical SSI benefit /12
So the take-away from the piece SHOULD be that we need to expand Social Security so benefits are enough to live on—without root-digging. /13
And done by a reporter not wearing wastefraudabuse-tinted glasses, that’s what this piece could powerfully argue for. /end (for now)
