Trump's Obamaphone plan

Yep, get your arse to work you worthless mooches.

Is someone is getting a free phone it should be deducted from whatever other govt assistance they're getting.


We give too much shite away for free in this country.

They're actually Bushphones but in fairness Obama did EXPAND it a great deal

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but you wouldn't sell as many iPhones and Galaxys.

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Those phones are included in the Obamophone program???

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This program needs to be scaled back. WAY back. Actually, discontinued, but we all know that won't happen.

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The opposite is happening, the program was scaled up this month and will continue to grow over the next few years.

Some facts about the program (from www.obamaphone.com):

-U.S. citizenship is not a requirement to receive an Obamaphone.

-The largest company, Safelink Wireless, has 3.6 million customers, and is owned by Tracfone, a company owned by the richest man in the world, Mexico’s Carlos Slim.

-Most companies offer 250 minutes of talk and text a month, but recently more minutes and 1,000 texts to even unlimited texts are being offered.

-Some California companies offer has the best deal in the country — unlimited talk and unlimited texting.

-The Lifeline program is not taxpayer-funded. It is funded by the Universal Service Fund fees that are required by law to be collected by telecommunications companies. The fund is used for various telecommunication projects, including Lifeline Assistance.

-Far from being killed, the Obama Phone program is getting bigger and more robust. Obama Broadband will be here on December 1, 2016 and it will deliver newer, better, smarter cell phones, more minutes, more texts and broadband service.

-Within the next 30 days, every Obama Phone customer will receive a minimum of 500 minutes. On December 1, 2017 that minimum will increase to 750 minutes, and on December 1, 2018 it will increase to 1000 minutes.

-But in place of voice-only service, the Lifeline program will morph into a new Obama Broadband program that offers you free government cell phones and high-speed broadband service that come bundled together.

-These opinions were prompted by a Georgetown University study and quoted in a report by the U.S. Government Accountability Office. According to the study, “…in the absence of the subsidy, only one in eight Lifeline households would not have phone service.

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Here’s the scoop:

Yes, there is a law in place to help low-income customers have access to basic telephone service. It’s divided into two programs: Link-Up America and Lifeline.

Link-Up assists consumers with the installation costs of phone service. The program pays up to $30 of the cost of installation and up to $200 in the form of a one year, interest-free loan for additional installation costs.

Lifeline provides discounts on basic monthly service at a primary residence for qualified telephone customers. These discounts can be up to $10.00 per month, or more for certain Native Americans. Generally, to qualify, your income must be at or below 135% of the federal poverty guidelines (these vary by location and size of family but for comparison, rings in at $22,350 for a family of four in the lower 48).

In some instances, coverage may include discounts for cell phone service instead of land lines at primary residences because realistically, cell phone service is less expensive in some areas than traditional service. Eligibility and type of program may vary from state to state – and this is why there is a flurry of confusion about the program being a product of the Obama administration. In Florida, for example, cell phone service was added to the existing program – in 2008, the year that Obama was elected to office. The conclusion from many folks was that it was a new federal program. It was not. It was an expansion of the existing program and implemented on a state by state basis.

The federal program dates back to 1996; it was part of the Telecommunications Act of 1996. The Act did a number of things, including increasing internet access to doctors and patients in rural hospitals (for consults with specialists); subsidizing internet and phone coverage for schools and libraries and providing free or subsidized coverage for families who can’t afford it so that they have links to emergency and government services. The Act was not taxpayer funded… exactly. Taxpayers do pay for coverage but not via federal income taxes. Instead, the Act “mandated the creation of the universal service fund (USF) into which all telecommunications providers are required to contribute a percentage of their interstate and international end-user telecommunications revenues.” So that little fee on your phone bill labeled USF? That’s what you’re paying for.

As you can imagine, not every one supports this idea. And yes, there has been abuse – you can read about efforts to curb abuse here (downloads as a pdf).

As a result, there is a bill in place to put an end to the practice. Introduced in November 18, 2011, by Rep. Tim Griffin (R-AR), the Stop Taxpayer Funded Cell Phones Act of 2011, has three co-sponsors, Rep. Rodney Alexander (R-LA), Rep. Bill Posey (R-FL) and Rep. Dennis Ross (R-FL). The text is as follows:

Prohibits a provider of commercial mobile communications service from receiving universal service support under specified provisions of the Communications Act of 1934 for the provision of such service through the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) Lifeline program (a program that provides discounts on monthly telephone service to qualifying low-income consumers).

The bill now sits in the House Committee on Energy and Commerce. I’m guessing it will sit awhile.

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I am guessing the mothballs will be wiped clean from this bill now.