[DannyTN]

FactCheck.org : Congressman's Slippery Cell Phone Claim

The government subsidy $9.25 a month. Seriously of all the support payments, I don't know why people get so emotional over phones. Yes poor people probably do need a phone for emergencies. And would you hire someone who didn't have a phone?

That said, there is a fraud problem, that they are addressing albeit a little slow.

[cripplecreek]

That said, there is a fraud problem, that they are addressing albeit a little slow.

Exactly. Its like every other federal program that's been left to grow unchecked for decades. I don't have any problem with its original intent but the misuse is obviously out of control and blaming it on Obama isn't going to fix anything.

[fireman15]

For emergencies, any “poor” person can buy a “Tracfone” or something similar. They are frequently on sale for as little as $9.95. There is no monthly fee and there is no fee for 911 calls.

If a “poor” person does get a job and their employer is long winded on the cell phone... they can get a discount if they buy more minutes at a time or buy a more expensive phone or they can pay by the month with no contract. There are a number of competing services, in most cases they are quite competative and actually use the same towers as the major providers. It is the free market in action there is simply no need for a government “subsidy”. It is just a waste.

[kcvl]

Multiply that by, at least, ten because that is how many phones they each get by giving out fake names. Now multiply that by how many other “family” members get the same amount of phones. They also have no problem just chunking the phone in the trash when it runs out of minutes!