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djjd62
 
Reply Sat 29 Sep, 2012 05:57 am
Obama Phone



i love this lady

and remember in November, keep Obama in President Razz
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Type: Discussion • Score: 4 • Views: 1,100 • Replies: 9

 
chai2
 
  1  
Reply Sat 29 Sep, 2012 07:23 am
@djjd62,
I love her gravely voice.

Romney sucks.....Bad.
0 Replies
 
boomerang
 
  2  
Reply Sat 29 Sep, 2012 08:43 am
@djjd62,
I watched your video and was all WTH?

And then I came across this....

Quote:
Though we can't be positive which government program the woman from the video is referencing without interviewing her, it does appear that she's talking about the FCC's Lifeline Assistance benefit. Owing to the fact that people generally need phones to apply for jobs and enroll their children in school, and elderly citizens need to be able to call their families and emergency services, the government decided in the '80s (under Ronald Reagan, no less) to institute the Lifeline Assistance program. In 1996, Bill Clinton signed the Telecommunications Act into law, which offered either cell phones or landline services to low-income Americans.

Today, 38 states, one of which is Ohio, participate in the Lifeline program. If you live in one of those locales and your income is at or below 135 percent of the poverty line, or if you qualify for certain benefit programs like Medicaid and TANF, you can apply for a free cell phone that offers you 250 minutes of talk time per month. The people who are getting these phones aren't getting iPhones or other smartphones; they're often people in urban or rural areas who are being supplied with basic cell phones so they can call the hospital when they're sick, or receive calls if there's a problem with their child at school.

If you're upset that Obama is giving "freeloaders" gratis cell phones paid for with your tax money, don't be. Firstly, Obama had nothing to do with the Lifeline program: the "Obama phone" narrative is a myth that both liberals and conservatives have fallen for since 2009. Secondly, Lifeline isn't paid for with tax revenues. Rather, Lifeline is funded with a pool of money, called the Universal Service Fund, which is paid for with revenue donations from telecommunications providers. Some of those providers—like Verizon, for instance—pass off that cost to their customers with a Universal Service fee, but the government doesn't mandate that the money come from citizens, meaning it's technically not a tax.


So.... yeah.... I guess it makes a bit more sense that I thought it did even though it still doesn't make any sense.
parados
 
  3  
Reply Sat 29 Sep, 2012 09:26 am
@boomerang,
http://www.freegovernmentcellphones.net/faq/obama-phone

A little more history on the Lifeline program and the Obama phone name.
0 Replies
 
tsarstepan
 
  1  
Reply Sat 29 Sep, 2012 10:05 am
@boomerang,
It's not like they're giving out iPhones or other smart phones with data plans. They're most likely given out plain jane Trac phones and that has the barest of minutes plans. Not something to be truly proud or braggable about.

Thanks Parados for the link.
boomerang
 
  1  
Reply Sat 29 Sep, 2012 10:11 am
I meant that the woman makes more sense after reading an explanation.

The phone program makes good sense.

I agree that the "Obama phone" link was helpful!

tsarstepan
 
  1  
Reply Sat 29 Sep, 2012 10:36 am
@boomerang,
I'm afraid that certain conservative factions will run with this misleading and error filled video to rile up their army of already under/uneducated followers who will thrive on this lady's own misunderstanding of the phone program of which she's an overly eager recipient.
RABEL222
 
  1  
Reply Sat 29 Sep, 2012 10:41 am
@djjd62,
There was a free phone scam based on this program in St. Louis that gave the program a black eye.
0 Replies
 
parados
 
  1  
Reply Sat 29 Sep, 2012 11:07 am
@tsarstepan,
There is an email that has been circulating since 2009 accusing Obama of giving away free phones with taxpayer money. Nothing new really.
0 Replies
 
parados
 
  1  
Reply Sat 29 Sep, 2012 11:08 am
@tsarstepan,
The main page of that link gives more information on it.
Simple phone and a 250 month a minute plan is all.
http://www.freegovernmentcellphones.net/
0 Replies
 
 

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