“All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.”  

George Orwell’s famous novella, Animal Farm, was a brutal, symbolic attack on the Soviet Union and its brand of Communism. But it applies just as accurately to the different ways poor and rich Americans are treated.

Let’s start with the poor.

According to the Social Security website: “Supplemental Security Income (SSI) is a Federal income supplement program funded by general tax revenues (not Social Security taxes). It is designed to help aged, blind, and disabled people, who have little or no income; and It provides cash to meet basic needs for food, clothing, and shelter….

“One of our highest priorities is to help people with disabilities achieve independence by helping them take advantage of employment opportunities. Work incentive employment supports help disabled and blind SSI recipients go to work by minimizing the risk of losing their SSI or Medicaid benefits….

“We do not count the first $65 of earned income plus one-half of the amount over $65. Therefore, we reduce your SSI benefit only $1 for every $2 you earn over $65.“

Wow!  An SSI recipient can earn up to $65 before that begins to affect his SSI. 

In 1960, $65 was equal to $659.48 in 2023 dollars.

That would have been great in 1960. But 1960 is now 63 years ago. 

According to Microsoft: “The average adult spends $212 to $405 per month on groceries.” According to the Government Accountability Office: “While food prices generally increased about 2% in prior years, they increased about 11% from 2021 to 2022.

“Inflation contributed to the increase. But there were other factors—like global disruptions to the food supply chain—that may have had a greater impact. And not everyone felt this increase the same way.”

And according to Statista, a German company specializing in market and consumer data: “As of February 2023, the average monthly rent for a two-bedroom apartment in the United States reached 1,320 U.S. dollars, up from 1,282 U.S. dollars a year before.”

So being able to earn $65 before the Social Security Administration starts reducing your SSI monthly payment shouldn’t be considered a “work incentive.”

For despicable contrast, consider how America’s former Presidents are treated.

The Former Presidents Act of 1958 provides several benefits and perks that are available to Presidents after they leave office. Their biggest perk is an annual pension equal to the pay for a Cabinet Secretary, which is $226,300 in 2023. 

Widows of former Presidents are eligible for a $20,000 yearly pension. In addition, former Presidents and their spouses can opt to receive lifetime Secret Service protection.

According to the National Taxpayers Union Foundation, ex-Presidents are provided with:

• Funding by the General Service Administration (GSA) to staff, set up and furnish an official office anywhere in the country.
• Reimbursement for themselves and their staff up to $1 million annually for costs.
• $500,000 a year for their spouses for official travel and security.
• The guarantee of a funeral with full honors and burial, if they or their spouse want it, at Arlington National Cemetery. 

Let’s go back to the inauguration of Ronald Reagan, who served from 1981 to 1989.

• Reagan believed that government should not help the impoverished.  Those who lacked wealth to buy such necessities as housing and medical insurance were written off as unimportant.
• He claimed to be a “fiscal conservative.” But he drastically shrank the tax-base, bloated the defense budget and destroyed programs to benefit the poor and middle-class.
• As a result, Reagan produced a $1 trillion deficit—which only the Clinton Administration eliminated.
• Before his Presidency ended, 18 wealthy Californians contributed $156,000 apiece to buy him a 7,200 square-foot mansion overlooking Beverly Hills.
• Reagan signed a multi-million dollar deal to write his Presidential memoirs and publish a collection of his speeches.
• He signed an exclusive contract with a Washington lecture bureau, which paid him $50,000 per speech given in the United States and $100,000 overseas. This made him the highest-paid speaker in the country.
• These monies came in addition to his Presidential pension of $99,500 a year for life and his $30,000 annual pension as a former governor of California.
• At a cost to the government of $10 million annually, Reagan continued to receive lifetime Secret Service protection from 40 fulltime agents.

Ronald Reagan

According to a November 5, 2020 article in USA Today:

Reagan had made money as a movie and TV actor for more than 20 years. He owned several pieces of real estate, including a 688-acre property near Santa Barbara, California. He also profited from his post-Presidential autobiography. 

Reagan had a peak net worth of $14.3 million.

After Reagan came George H.W. Bush (1989 – 1993).

Bush made his initial fortune running an offshore oil drilling company and owned millions of dollars worth of property, including an estate in Kennebunkport, Maine, which around the time of his death in November 2018, was valued at $13.5 million. Like most ex-Presidents, he authored his autobiography: All the Best.

His peak net worth: $26.6 million.

William Jefferson Clinton served from 1993 to 2001. 

Since leaving office, Clinton has made millions from his 2005 book My Life. But his wife, Hillary, provides most of his wealth. She reportedly received a $14 million advance for her 2014 memoir Hard Choices. She also made millions from paid speeches.

His peak net worth: $76.8 million.

All of these Presidents were wealthy enough to support themselves without draining millions of dollars every year from the Federal Government.