Taxpayers funding more than $1B in free cellphones

[Jroc]

CITIZEN: It’s a government phone.

REPORTER: So, you don’t have to pay anything for it?

CITIZEN: No.

REPORTER: She’s right. This is one case where free really means free, at least for the people receiving the phones.

REPORTER: Who pays for it?

CITIZEN: The government, the taxpayers, I don’t pay for it. Like I said, I can’t afford it, so it helps me.

REPORTER: The money actually comes from the extra dollar or two we all pay every month on our phone bills. To receive the “free phones” plus 100 minutes a month of talk time, people simply need to show a driver’s license and proof they live at the poverty line. A food assistance card will do. In 2008, 107,715 people in Illinois received the free wireless phones. Last year, the numbers soared to 569,000, a 429 percent increase. Nationally 13 million people signed up for the free cell phone program at a cost of $1.2 billion.

REP. JOE WALSH: There’s no need or no reason for the government to be doing this, and it just teaches the wrong lesson to folks that they don’t have to be responsible for things like this.

Taxpayers funding more than $1B in free cellphones | Washington Free Beacon

 

[uscitizen]

Taxpayers? The government funding this?

Sounded like people paying for phone service is funding this.

Not that I agree with it or anything.


Life did exist before cell phones or even landline phones.

 

[Jroc]

Taxpayers? The government funding this?

Sounded like people paying for phone service is funding this.
Not that I agree with it or anything.


Life did exist before cell phones or even landline phones.

Mandated by the federal government

 

[uscitizen]

Taxpayers? The government funding this?

Sounded like people paying for phone service is funding this.
Not that I agree with it or anything.


Life did exist before cell phones or even landline phones.

Mandated by the federal government

by a law passed by congress to be more exact.

Did anyone you voted for vote for it?

 

[buckeye45_73]

Another program that needs to die.

 

[Jroc]

Taxpayers? The government funding this?

Sounded like people paying for phone service is funding this.
Not that I agree with it or anything.


Life did exist before cell phones or even landline phones.

Mandated by the federal government

by a law passed by congress to be more exact.

Umm...Passed by congress signed by the president...Thats the federal governement right? Doesn't matter which congress or what president

 

[uscitizen]

btw this is not new it is based on a decades old law.

The users are not the only ones receiving government assistance. Telecommunications industry analysts said the program, while in its infancy, could benefit mobile phone carriers, who face a steep challenge of their own: most Americans already own a cellphone, so the poor represent a last untapped market.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/15/technology/15cell.html

Driven by capitalism and profits. Who woulda thunk it?

 

[Clementine]

I know two people who are getting 3 free phones each. The minutes weren't enough for them, so they called three different companies and got the free phones. Wonder how many others are double or triple dipping from different companies so they can get more minutes or more phones so other family members get one.

The one guy I know who bragged about getting three of them had his own cell plan for the last ten years and had no trouble paying for it. Same with a neighbor who had a family cell plan for years. Once the freebies were offered, of course no one is going to pay for their own if they can get away with it. It's not that they couldn't afford them before. Why are we doing this?

And I notice that a person needs an ID to get the free phones. Oh my, where is the outrage from the left at how the minorities are getting cheated out of free phones because they cannot obtain a legal ID?

 

[buckeye45_73]

an ID...those are waaaaaaaaaaay too hard to get, it's just unfair. They should take the people at their word, Franco would.

 

[uscitizen]

I know two people who are getting 3 free phones each. The minutes weren't enough for them, so they called three different companies and got the free phones. Wonder how many others are double or triple dipping from different companies so they can get more minutes or more phones so other family members get one.

The one guy I know who bragged about getting three of them had his own cell plan for the last ten years and had no trouble paying for it. Same with a neighbor who had a family cell plan for years. Once the freebies were offered, of course no one is going to pay for their own if they can get away with it. It's not that they couldn't afford them before. Why are we doing this?

And I notice that a person needs an ID to get the free phones. Oh my, where is the outrage from the left at how the minorities are getting cheated out of free phones because they cannot obtain a legal ID?

Why are they doing this? Becuase they can and the wireless companys encourage it because they make money from the program.

 

[SniperFire]

Where my Obama money at?

 

[Jroc]

I know two people who are getting 3 free phones each. The minutes weren't enough for them, so they called three different companies and got the free phones. Wonder how many others are double or triple dipping from different companies so they can get more minutes or more phones so other family members get one.

The one guy I know who bragged about getting three of them had his own cell plan for the last ten years and had no trouble paying for it. Same with a neighbor who had a family cell plan for years. Once the freebies were offered, of course no one is going to pay for their own if they can get away with it. It's not that they couldn't afford them before. Why are we doing this?

And I notice that a person needs an ID to get the free phones. Oh my, where is the outrage from the left at how the minorities are getting cheated out of free phones because they cannot obtain a legal ID?

Why are they doing this? Becuase they can and the wireless companys encourage it because they make money from the program.

So? Does that make it right? What's your point?

 

[buckeye45_73]

I know two people who are getting 3 free phones each. The minutes weren't enough for them, so they called three different companies and got the free phones. Wonder how many others are double or triple dipping from different companies so they can get more minutes or more phones so other family members get one.

The one guy I know who bragged about getting three of them had his own cell plan for the last ten years and had no trouble paying for it. Same with a neighbor who had a family cell plan for years. Once the freebies were offered, of course no one is going to pay for their own if they can get away with it. It's not that they couldn't afford them before. Why are we doing this?

And I notice that a person needs an ID to get the free phones. Oh my, where is the outrage from the left at how the minorities are getting cheated out of free phones because they cannot obtain a legal ID?

Why are they doing this? Becuase they can and the wireless companys encourage it because they make money from the program.

Wait....so what you're saying is business profit from Big government rules and regulations!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! NO WAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Where are the liberals.?.......OMG BIG Business and BIG government in bed together, OMG I never knew....../sarcasm

 

[OohPooPahDoo]

CITIZEN: It’s a government phone.

REPORTER: So, you don’t have to pay anything for it?

CITIZEN: No.

REPORTER: She’s right. This is one case where free really means free, at least for the people receiving the phones.

REPORTER: Who pays for it?

CITIZEN: The government, the taxpayers, I don’t pay for it. Like I said, I can’t afford it, so it helps me.

REPORTER: The money actually comes from the extra dollar or two we all pay every month on our phone bills. To receive the “free phones” plus 100 minutes a month of talk time, people simply need to show a driver’s license and proof they live at the poverty line. A food assistance card will do. In 2008, 107,715 people in Illinois received the free wireless phones. Last year, the numbers soared to 569,000, a 429 percent increase. Nationally 13 million people signed up for the free cell phone program at a cost of $1.2 billion.

REP. JOE WALSH: There’s no need or no reason for the government to be doing this, and it just teaches the wrong lesson to folks that they don’t have to be responsible for things like this.

Taxpayers funding more than $1B in free cellphones | Washington Free Beacon

There’s no need or no reason for the government to be doing this, and it just teaches the wrong lesson to folks that they don’t have to be responsible for things like this.

Its funny how righties consider abject poverty to be an opportunity to teach people their superior world views by refusing help in anyway to "teach a lesson". Just remember its the left that's elitist, right? I'm sure if we deny cell phones and food stamps to the poor, they'll just "learn their lesson" into a better job and all of a sudden the economy won't even have a need for low wage labor.



All those damn ditch diggers need to fucking get better jobs, we don't need no ditches!

 

[buckeye45_73]

CITIZEN: It’s a government phone.

REPORTER: So, you don’t have to pay anything for it?

CITIZEN: No.

REPORTER: She’s right. This is one case where free really means free, at least for the people receiving the phones.

REPORTER: Who pays for it?

CITIZEN: The government, the taxpayers, I don’t pay for it. Like I said, I can’t afford it, so it helps me.

REPORTER: The money actually comes from the extra dollar or two we all pay every month on our phone bills. To receive the “free phones” plus 100 minutes a month of talk time, people simply need to show a driver’s license and proof they live at the poverty line. A food assistance card will do. In 2008, 107,715 people in Illinois received the free wireless phones. Last year, the numbers soared to 569,000, a 429 percent increase. Nationally 13 million people signed up for the free cell phone program at a cost of $1.2 billion.

REP. JOE WALSH: There’s no need or no reason for the government to be doing this, and it just teaches the wrong lesson to folks that they don’t have to be responsible for things like this.

Taxpayers funding more than $1B in free cellphones | Washington Free Beacon

There’s no need or no reason for the government to be doing this, and it just teaches the wrong lesson to folks that they don’t have to be responsible for things like this.

Its funny how righties consider abject poverty to be an opportunity to teach people their superior world views by refusing help in anyway to "teach a lesson". Just remember its the left that's elitist, right?

yeah it's called "earning" your stuff. what a concept. Should we all get Feraris too? Im down with that program.

 

[Lakhota]

Q: Has the Obama administration started a program to use "taxpayer money" to give free cell phones to welfare recipients?

A: No. Low-income households have been eligible for discounted telephone service for more than a decade. But the program is funded by telecom companies, not by taxes, and the president has nothing to do with it.

FactCheck.org : The Obama Phone?

 

[OohPooPahDoo]

What?

 

[OohPooPahDoo]

Q: Has the Obama administration started a program to use "taxpayer money" to give free cell phones to welfare recipients?

A: No. Low-income households have been eligible for discounted telephone service for more than a decade. But the program is funded by telecom companies, not by taxes, and the president has nothing to do with it.

FactCheck.org : The Obama Phone?

Republicans - They BITCH when government helps the poor AND they BITCH when PRIVATE INDUSTRY HELPS THE POOR. WHAT MORE PROOF DO YOU NEED THAT THEY JUST HATE THE POOR?

 

[buckeye45_73]

This informal practice was codified when the Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC) was created as part of the 1996 Telecommunications Act to "ensure all Americans, including low-income consumers and those who live in rural, insular, high cost areas, shall have affordable service and [to] help to connect eligible schools, libraries, and rural health care providers to the global telecommunications network." The USAC includes four programs to serve rural areas, high cost areas, rural health care providers, and schools and libraries. Since 1997, USAC has provided discounted land line service to low-income individuals. (A more limited program to offer assistance to low-income individuals was created a decade earlier; the telecommunications act expanded and formalized it.) According to Eric Iversen, USAC director of external relations, the Universal Service Fund more recently began funding programs that provide wireless service, such as the pre-paid cellular SafeLink program mentioned in the chain e-mail

I'm sorry is the USAC not a government program? It is sure sounds like one.

 

[buckeye45_73]

Q: Has the Obama administration started a program to use "taxpayer money" to give free cell phones to welfare recipients?

A: No. Low-income households have been eligible for discounted telephone service for more than a decade. But the program is funded by telecom companies, not by taxes, and the president has nothing to do with it.

FactCheck.org : The Obama Phone?

Republicans - They BITCH when government helps the poor AND they BITCH when PRIVATE INDUSTRY HELPS THE POOR. WHAT MORE PROOF DO YOU NEED THAT THEY JUST HATE THE POOR?

I DO NOT want to pay higher prices on my phone service for people to mooch off of it. What is so DIFFICULT to understand about that. I'll make it simpler.
PAY for your OWN STUFF......how about them apples?