Posted on 06/12/2012 5:17:25 PM PDT by kevcol
New questions have emerged about a government program that has given away millions of free cell phones and service to people with low incomes and those in rural areas.
The money comes from the federal "Universal Service Charge" on your phone bill. It has its roots way back in the 1930s. The goal was to make sure people in rural areas and the poor had access to telephone service. In the 1990s, it expanded to include wireless phones.
Since then, the numbers have exploded. The cost of the program is now more than $1 billion dollars a year. The FCC, along with some Democrats and Republicans, are trying to reign it in.
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On an abandoned lot on the West Side of Chicago, a sign on a bright green tent advertises a deal too good for many to resist.
"My daughter told me about it. It's a government phone," said Jeanetta Anderson.
When asked if she had to pay anything for it, Anderson said no.
She's right. This is one case where "free" really means free -- at least, for the people receiving the phones.
When asked who pays for the program, cell phone user Michael Brown said, "The government or the taxpayers. Someone. I don't pay for it. Like I said, I can't afford it. It helps me."
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An FCC spokesperson said: "Since 1985, [the wireless service program] has helped low-income consumers find jobs, contact friends and family, and call 911 in emergencies, and we will not allow fraud and abuse to destroy this valuable program for the nation's most vulnerable citizens."
(Excerpt) Read more at abclocal.go.com ...
Low income 'consumers' is exactly what they are. Producers? I think not.
Yeah, I'm beating up this thread. 'contact family and friends' ???? Ex: "Yo' whacha doin?" "Yeah, I be going to get a foty and smoke a blunt. Wha u b doin? "
Your tax dollars are paying for shiftless punks to talk to their 'peeps' all day long.
Thanks for the kind words, I remember your screen name from way back.
Don't worry, Ol' L4T is just gettin' warmed up.
I'm not 'killed' yet, therefore I must be stronger.
My journeys have been good to me even though others wouldn't see it that way.
I don't talk to others very much, but thanks for reaching out.
L8R, L4T
I can’t argue with a single thing you posted.
But I, conversely, can’t figure out how to get the toothpaste back in the tube.
Cut everything off and we’ll have people standing in the streets begging for help ala Katrina. Keep things in place, the programs grow and grow.
rockvillem: “I suspect one underlying premise of the program is that a phone can be a necessity at times of a life-threatening emergency.”
If so, then every citizen should get a “free” cell phone. In fact, let’s mandate that everyone carry a GPS transmitter and computerized health monitor that will automatically notify health authorities in case of medical emergencies. Why? Because even citizens who can afford communications equipment, like a cell phone, may be too incapacitated to use it in a medical emergency.
(There are plenty of premises for government to give away “free” stuff, and government is always bureaucratic, rife with fraud, and inefficient — always!)
There is a cercomstances in which almost every modern service imaginable might be defined as a “necessity”. Whether any good or service is a “necessity” or not, it is not acceptable to have the Federal government steal from the mouth of the producer to provide that good or service.
That goes for cellphones, TV, stereos, as well as food, shelter.
I’m pissed too. I’m paying for their cell phones, while I don’t even own a cell phone myself. Sure, I could afford one, but I choose not to, because it’s an unnecessary expense for me. If I can live without it, these moochers can too.
Cut everything off and we’ll have people standing in the streets begging for help ala Katrina. Keep things in place, the programs grow and grow.
Yep, the toothpaste is definitely out the tube. With either Mitt or Obama the Rats, GOP-e and RINOs will form the governing coalition of rabid Statism.
It pains me to hear Mark Levin talk of spending the next 80 years rolling back government. Any objective reading of history clearly shows that has never happened, nor will it ever happen.
Some catastrophic event or series of highly volatile events will have to occur to compel the States to dissolve the various unconstitutional Federal bureaucracies. Large numbers of Federal bureaucrats will have to be fired and their pensions revoked. All buildings that housed the unconstitutional federal activities must be grazed and the land sold to private individuals.
All courts below the Supreme Court need to be dissolved and re-constituted with very strict Constitutionalists. The very first evil amendment that must be repealed is the 17th, shortly followed by the 16th.
For Liberty to once again reign in our Republic, unconstitutional Federal government power must be neutralized in a very short term (few years max). There is no other way to defeat the parasite class that inhabits D.C.
When D.C. and the surrounding areas constitute the seven poorest counties in America, then you will know that Liberty is once again present across our great land.
Sadly, the likeness of any of this happening is 0.00000000000000001
All is not lost; Our Founders were be quite surprised to see that our Republic has lasted as long as it has. The were very wise about the nature of man and the utterly vile, sadistic, evil humans that are attracted to public service (should really be called Public Abuse.)
I agree with your arguments in general, but let me play Devil’s advocate for a moment. I don’t see anything in the Constitution to authorize the feds to operate a mail service. Sure, the USPS is supposed to be private, but we all know they cannot operate without constant government support, so they are a de facto arm of the Federal government.
Should we eliminate the postal service also then? Or pass an amendment authorizing it? Or is this a case where it is actually proper to find some room in the “general welfare” clause or some such cubby hole?
Maybe this is an outdated example, since the postal service is becoming obsolete anyway, but pretend we are in 1950 and it is necessary, and cannot operate as a private entity because it is too unprofitable.
Oliver Wendall Douglass had a phone on a pole on their farm outside Hooterville.
Holder’s peeps need phones so they can tweet their drug deals.
There is no way to justify our present public monopoly of the post office. It may be argued that the carrying of mail is a technical monopoly and that a government monopoly is the least of evils. Along these lines, one could perhaps justify a government post office, but not the present law, which makes it illegal for anybody else to carry the mail. If the delivery of mail is a technical monopoly, no one else will be able to succeed in competition with the government. If it is not, there is no reason why the government should be engaged in it. The only way to find out is to leave other people free to enter.
—Milton Friedman, Friedman, Milton & Rose D. Capitalism and Freedom, University of Chicago Press, 1982, 29
Yes, it would be impractical to cut off all the entitlements completely and simutaneously. So, we just need to think of workable solutions (why can’t Newt worry about these “American Solutions”?!?)
I can think of two possible avenues we could try. First, we could try to phase the programs out. Do a review of all recipients, grandfather in those truly in need who cannot adjust rapidly, at least for a period of time, and then stop accepting any new applications for assistance.
Second option, we partially privatize all the programs by farming out the administration to privately operated relief organizations, and supply them with a steadily diminishing amount of funding over a period of years. Let them determine standards and controls that will allow them to help the people most in need and weed out the parasites, as well as run programs to transition people off the rolls. If they are successful, and meet their targets, the organizations can get a “bonus” of funds for their own discretionary spending, giving them a profit motive to find ways to accomplish the job efficiently.
any functional cell phone is able to dial 911.. No minutes or plan is needed.
any functional cell phone is able to dial 911.. No minutes or plan is needed.
With regard to fraud...
I am a triage interviewer for a local food bank.
Several weeks ago I was interviewing a single woman that had kids 16 and 14 years old. On the intake sheet I noticed there was a phone number listed but no money for a phone listed under her expenses. I asked her about this and she said, “I got me a free obama phone. Don’t cost me nothing. Do you want the other numbers?” I asked what she meant by other numbers. She said, “Oh, my kids got obama phones too, you need those numbers?” I said no, while silently cursing under my breath.
Frigging ridiculous!
This program is 100% free and 100% funded by you and me. The phone costs them nothing and they get 250 minutes of free talk time per month. I don’t know how much minutes cost after the free 250.
The post office is mentioned in the Constitution, actually.
Wow, Cableguy!
So you are saying that a phone that is charged and will turn on need not have a plan to dial 911?
I didn’t know that. And it sure should change the free cellular thing, imho.
Well, like Levin, I hate to give up.
In the past, there was a certain amount of shame about being on the public dole. As in many areas of life, the more people that crossed the line...the more it became acceptable and more people lined up to get on the gravy train.
Like I said, I hate to give up, but I am at a loss to change human nature.
As you said, our Founder’s may only be surprised at how long it took for things to come where they have today.
Still the best country in the world to live, imo!
Since I have no desire for the US to become a third world country, I equate food and shelter as necessities.
Thank you for your very thoughtful post.
It at least gave some alternatives.
Correct..
http://www.fcc.gov/guides/wireless-911-services
The FCC’s basic 911 rules require wireless service providers to transmit all 911 calls to a PSAP, regardless of whether the caller subscribes to the provider’s service or not.
You don’t need no Obama Minutes.. You just need a functional phone.
The Obama phone much like Obama himself is a fraud.
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