CITIZEN: Its a government phone.
REPORTER: So, you dont have to pay anything for it?
CITIZEN: No.
REPORTER: Shes 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 dont pay for it. Like I said, I cant 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 drivers 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: Theres no need or no reason for the government to be doing this, and it just teaches the wrong lesson to folks that they dont have to be responsible for things like this.
Taxpayers funding more than $1B in free cellphones | Washington Free Beacon