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'MarcoPhone' Program Covers Area Including 200k Sq Miles, 7+ Million People, Open-Ended Funding
Breitbart's Big Government ^ | April 21, 2013 | Mike Flynn

Posted on 04/21/2013 11:40:31 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet

In designing a federal grant program, one can opt for very general eligibility criteria, to provide certain flexibility, but strictly limit the funding to ensure the grant is narrowly applied. One could, alternatively, detail very specific eligibility criteria, with less restrictions on funding, to ensure grants get where they are intended. Applying very general criteria with loose restrictions on funding, however, is a recipe for potential fraud. This is the exact problem with the proposal dubbed "MarcoPhones."

Last week, Breitbart News' Matt Boyle reported that the 844-page immigration proposal included a grant program providing satellite phones to people living in the "southwest border region" of the country. A Florida reporter dubbed the program "MarcoPhones," given Sen. Marco Rubio's public leadership of the "Gang of 8" immigration negotiations. Several outlets pushed back on the story, arguing that the program was originally proposed by AZ Sen. Kyl and McCain in 2011, after the tragic murder of a rancher the year before. This is true, but only to a point.

In 2011, Sens. McCain and Kyl introduced legislation to increase border security. They included a provision to create a 2-year grant program to provide satellite phones for residents in the "southwest border region." An individual would be eligible for a grant, provided, he or she:

(A) regularly resides or works in the Southwest Border region; (B) is at greater risk of border violence due to the lack of cellular service at his or her residence or business and his or her proximity to such border....

(Excerpt) Read more at breitbart.com ...


TOPICS: Breaking News; Crime/Corruption; Government; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: immigration; marcophones; marcorubio; mccain; rubio
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Huh?
1 posted on 04/21/2013 11:40:31 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

Can you say fiasco?


2 posted on 04/22/2013 12:31:58 AM PDT by Jim Robinson (Resistance to tyrants is obedience to God!!)
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To: Jim Robinson

Rubiocare.


3 posted on 04/22/2013 12:33:45 AM PDT by exist
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To: exist

Damned bleeding heart liberals.


4 posted on 04/22/2013 12:34:57 AM PDT by Jim Robinson (Resistance to tyrants is obedience to God!!)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

Wow, the fear Marco Rubio instills in the enemy is remarkable and for good reason. The intensity of the attacks will grow and they thing that will make him more timid. I have seen him in action, under attack from the leaders of his party and his response is laughter and then he wins. When I say he reminds me of Reagan he does so in 3 ways, the way he smiles, the way he can win people over and the way he wins. His strong conservative values that his parents taught him well will serve him well.


5 posted on 04/22/2013 12:37:56 AM PDT by ynotjjr (Cheney / Rubio 2016 Brand New Heart - Same Old Guts)
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To: ynotjjr
His strong conservative amnesty values that his parents taught him well will serve him well.as a member of the GOP-e.
6 posted on 04/22/2013 1:03:39 AM PDT by peyton randolph (FUBO and his wookie beard)
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To: Jim Robinson

I am no Rubio, Mcain or Kyl fan but I can vouch for lack cell coverage on some of these bigger ranches

I have been active since ‘05 on the S Texas border with a group of like minded patriots aiding BP and County SO. When You are stuck out in the middle of some of these 300k+ acre spreads you may as well furn your smart phone off. There is no coverage.

Many of the big ranchers have gone to sat phones and pay for them out of their own pockets as they should. However, there are small spreads that can not afford them and if bill was setup correctly could aid in reporting illegal invader or drug smuggling activities. Possibly the sats could be only set up to only call SO or BP.

But like everything our FERAL Government does. Common sense will not be used. This if passed could become another Obama phone fiasco


7 posted on 04/22/2013 1:58:42 AM PDT by eartick (Been to the line in the sand and liked it)
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To: peyton randolph

Rubio will crush Hillary, the sooner you accept it, the easier it will be for you.


8 posted on 04/22/2013 2:01:05 AM PDT by ynotjjr (Rubio / Cheney 2016 Brand New Heart - Same Old Guts)
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To: eartick

Tried radio?


9 posted on 04/22/2013 2:12:45 AM PDT by Jim Robinson (Resistance to tyrants is obedience to God!!)
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To: eartick
Many of the big ranchers have gone to sat phones and pay for them out of their own pockets as they should. However, there are small spreads that can not afford them and if bill was setup correctly could aid in reporting illegal invader or drug smuggling activities. Possibly the sats could be only set up to only call SO or BP.

2 meter ham radio with phone patch.

10 posted on 04/22/2013 2:43:21 AM PDT by Yo-Yo
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To: Yo-Yo

We tried ham also. Some of the wooded areas were so dense we could not get out. Sats or Onstar would not even work. May work well in Arizona or West Texas


11 posted on 04/22/2013 2:47:56 AM PDT by eartick (Been to the line in the sand and liked it)
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To: eartick

The smaller ranchers get togeher and build repeaters. Ham clubs do it all the time.


12 posted on 04/22/2013 2:54:10 AM PDT by Yo-Yo
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

Follow the money. Some donor is gonna make big bucks from this. Betcha.


13 posted on 04/22/2013 3:29:50 AM PDT by upchuck (To the faceless, jack-booted government bureaucrat who just scanned this post: SCREW YOU!)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet
Last paragraph of the article:There ya go. nobamaphones are an excellent example. Fraud is rampant, we're paying for it and Carlos Slim is laughing all the way to the bank.
14 posted on 04/22/2013 3:39:04 AM PDT by upchuck (To the faceless, jack-booted government bureaucrat who just scanned this post: SCREW YOU!)
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To: ynotjjr

Wow, the fear Marco Rubio instills in the enemy is remarkable and for good reason. The intensity of the attacks will grow and they thing that will make him more timid. I have seen him in action, under attack from the leaders of his party and his response is laughter and then he wins. When I say he reminds me of Reagan he does so in 3 ways, the way he smiles, the way he can win people over and the way he wins. His strong conservative values that his parents taught him well will serve him well.
***********************************************************************
LOL — if this meant as parody or sarcasm!

If this was a serious post, it’s absolutely delusional. Rubio is revealing more and more what he really is as he continues his migration toward being simpatico with Senators Schumer, Graham and McCain. He’s rapidly moving toward the left wing of RINOism. And this is spoken as a FORMER supporter of his and believer in his conservatism.

The only way I could be more disappointed in him would be if we find out he has extensive Muslim connections and/or financing—similar to Grover Norquist.


15 posted on 04/22/2013 4:08:11 AM PDT by House Atreides
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

Why give anything away? Rubio is being played like a bad fiddle.


16 posted on 04/22/2013 4:20:42 AM PDT by Thebaddog (Obama won again? Dang.)
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To: ynotjjr
His strong conservative values that his parents taught him well will serve him well.

I've heard Rubio "speak conservative." I'm waiting for him to act conservative. That does not bode well.

17 posted on 04/22/2013 4:23:28 AM PDT by Pan_Yan (I believe in God. All else is dubious.)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

The ability to create money out of thin air or issue perpetual debt enables government to spend way beyond its means and this is as good an example as any of the dangerous results.

Just as when a person who builds their home in a flood-prone area should be expected to carry the cost of property damage, if people want to live in an area where security is an issue, then part of the cost of living there is the cost of adequate communications with the outside world.

The only mitigation here is if the danger is due to failures in government policy. However, it appears that instead of promptly taking concrete steps to secure the border, it is more cost efficient to help American citizens whose homes and farms are endangered by policy failures to be able to more easily call for help from an understaffed federal office.

When moments count, cops are only hours or days away.

What a mess. And the bureaucracy cannot be held accountable for the billions wasted in the failed virtual fence project that was a liberal dream to avoid truly effective border control measure.


18 posted on 04/22/2013 4:48:23 AM PDT by theBuckwheat
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To: upchuck; 2ndDivisionVet; ynotjjr; House Atreides; Pan_Yan
Follow the money. Some donor is gonna make big bucks from this.

TracFone, a company that will likely benefit from this type of government program, is based in Rubio’s Miami, Florida.

19 posted on 04/22/2013 5:00:14 AM PDT by Old Sarge (My "KMA List" is growing daily...)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

So lets stop calling it an ObamaPhone and start calling it a WELFARE phone. The former gets him votes, the second might cause shame.


20 posted on 04/22/2013 5:01:45 AM PDT by ThePatriotsFlag ( EVERY DIME Obama Spends is given to him by the Republicans in the House.)
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