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 ...
Oh I share your outrage, the destruction of this country is soon it seems and because of the idiotic cowardness of one party and the radicalism of another.
How can one grow up hating your own people is beyond me, why is it that this social justice is so common with many misfits and do they not understand that if they are the minority then they will lose more rights than we give minorities today?
Kind of like Rubio's new BFF Juan McAmnesty "crushed" the "community organizer"?
I don’t understand it either.
But I am reminded of Germany when I see the reaction of Bostonians to the bombing and manhunt: overwhelmingly it is leading to greater praise and appreciation for a large police state—and of their own “Boston strong” response of cowering indoors while the police state took over.
I grew up in the area and the preening virtue of moral relativism that they both display and teach to their children is just loaded with contradictions and irony in how they live their lives.
I suppose Thomas Sowell has done as good a job at unpacking it as anyone in his monograph, ‘The Vision of the Anointed’.
Rand has not said he will support Rubio’s bill. He’s trying to amend it.
I’ve read your past posts about him , things like he;s baptized so he;s socially conservative but you ignore his gift to the homosexuals and marriage and the list goes on so I;m not going to debate you because you are over this site speaking and defending him as if you work for him
I wish!
Maybe I could afford more expensive wine if I worked for him :)
I’ve supported him along with Mike Lee, Ron Johnson and more recently Ted Cruz since 2010. I sat out the presidential race.
Following in the footsteps of Presidents McCain and Romney.
McCain’s idea for the phones. Whadda goof. The ranchers probably have the phones already. It’ll just turn into another fee on the phone bill to give free stuff to the illegals.
“Follow the money. Some donor is gonna make big bucks from this. Betcha.”
This is probably about unused space on the Iridium system.
Iridium is a system of 56 low orbit satellites that was supposed to compete with terrestrial cell phones. The phones were too bulky and very few commercial custormers signed up and the project went bankrupt.
However, the US military was interested in Iridium since you could get cell service anywhere and Iridium is now a mostly US military system.
So the bandwidth costs nothing, the satellites are already up and paid for by the bond holders losing all their money. Maintenence is done by the US military.
All you have to do is give away a few thousand handsets and you are good to go.
Marco telefon-ee
nothing conservative about this proposal
Thanks for the info. You may be right.
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