Free Republic

Well, well, well, roughly a quarter of the 2.2 billion dollars being spent on Obamaphones, has gone to a company owned by Carlos Slim. Todd Shields of Bloomberg reports: Slim's TracFone Wireless Inc. received about a quarter of the funds from the U.S. government's Lifeline program, according to the latest figures. Today, a House subcommitteeasked why the program, paid for by fees charged to U.S. phone subscribers, tripled in cost since 2008. How many other markets have grown 300% in the years since the crash? Slim is often called the richest man in the world, and owns the cell phone monopoly in Mexico,...

North Texas prosecutors say a 37-year-old man has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for serving as the ringleader of a group that stole more than 800 cell phones in a scheme that netted some $1.5 million. A Tarrant County jury on Wednesday convicted Rashad Elqutob of a theft charge and for engaging in organized crime. The Arlington man, originally from Kuwait, was an employee of AT&T who acquired a vast inventory of cell phones from AT&T, RadioShack and another company. Other workers stole the phones and then sold them to Elqutob for about 10 percent of their value....

We've all heard about the free Obama phones. A friend was recently looking for a part-time work and found this listing on Craig's List [note: the "DMV" refers to DC, Maryland, Virginia]:

Softbank and Sprint have reached a deal under which Softbank will pay $20 billion for a 70 percent stake in the wireless telecom operator, according to people close to the situation. Japan-listed shares of Softbank slid 6.3 percent on Monday and were the most heavily traded share by turnover on the main board. The deal is expected to be announced at 0800 GMT Monday, Reuters reported. The transaction calls for Softbank to buy $8 billion worth of shares directly from Sprint [S 5.69 -0.04 (-0.7%) ]at a price of $5.25 each and tender for another $12 billion worth of the...

The richest man in the world, Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim, is making millions in profits from a government program that supplies poor Americans with free cell phones. Mr Slim, who is worth an estimated $69billion, owns the parent company of both the service provider and phone producer which creates the phones used in the Lifeline program. The government program was originally enacted under President Reagan's administration in an effort for poor Americans without access to phones to have a way to contact prospective employers, arrange for healthcare, and be in touch with their children's schools. Republicans have since attacked...

Protester outside of Romney rally explains how Obama gives all minorities free phones and that is why they should vote for him. Cleveland Ohio, September 26, 2012