Free Obamaphone to welfare recipients [Vanity]

Safelink Wireless ^ | 11/2/09 | Me

[YankeeReb]

SafeLink Wireless is a government supported program that provides a free cell phone and airtime each month for income-eligible customers.

I received a notice from a local tea party group here in CT about this new government giveaway. This a is a free cell phone along with 64 minutes (varies from state to state) that the government gives recipients to certian programs.

Here is an excerpt from their website:

Lifeline Assistance is part of a program that was created by the government to provide discounted or free telephone service to income-eligible consumers. To help bring you this important benefit, SafeLink Wireless is proud to offer Lifeline Service. Through our Lifeline Service you will receive FREE cellular service, a FREE cell phone, and FREE Minutes every month! SafeLink Wireless Service does not cost anything – there are no contracts, no recurring fees and no monthly charges.

Any Minutes you do not use will roll-over. Features such as caller ID, call waiting and voicemail are all also included with your service. If you need additional Minutes, you can buy TracFone Airtime Cards at any TracFone retailer Walmart, Walgreens, Family Dollar, etc). SafeLink Airtime Cards will be available soon.

Your exact benefits, including the number of free Minutes you will receive, depend on the state you live in. Please enter your ZIP code to get the details for your state.

From Snopes.com:

[SNIP] The intent of these programs is to help ensure that everyone , regardless of income, has access to basic telephone services in order to be able to keep in touch with family members, make medical appointments, contact emergency services, be reachable by telephone themselves, etc. [SNIP]

[YankeeReb]

This is one of the things that the "Universal Service Fee" that appears on your phone and cable bill is used for.

[Wally_Kalbacken]

Just as long as the DNC GOTV effort gets the numbers of all these phones so they can get them to the polls....

[Julia H.]

Portable Telescreens.

[beaversmom]

I WANT MY BAMAFONE!

[acoulterfan]

My area not covered! (San Diego)

[2 Kool 2 Be 4-Gotten]

What? No 0bama-iphones? No Justice No Peace!

[AUH2O Repub]

The Snopes link says that this program actually started under the Bush Administration. Snopes is very commie-biased. Anyone know if this is true?

[SC DOC]

OBAMAPHONE

[gussiefinknottle]

they give them to the mexicans here in georgia.

[top 2 toe red]

I hope you have better luck with the posting of this thread than I did.

I posted this same info with the same link about two weeks ago and it was promptly deleted by the admin moderator for "solicitation"...when I protested that it was in NO way a solicitation, then I was told I was gullible to believe everything I received in an email.

So, over this one post I was accused of being either a solicitor or naive...or maybe I was being accused of being both!

Who knows, maybe the FR moderator is the recipient of a tax-payer, free phone each month!

Anyway, I was/am appalled at this program!

[KarlInOhio]

You can get a bare bones cell phone from T-mobile for $20 and pay $10/3 months for about 30 minutes of usage. Pay more if you need more. Any bets on whether the similar phone and plan ends up costing 20 times as much once government bureaucrats get involved?

And if you're really good, Catherine Zeta Jones will bring you the phone and you won't even need a shrill NYTimes article from that other woman in order to get the eye candy.

[YankeeReb]

I was afraid of that so I posted the snopes link as well. There’s a lot of links on snopes to other sites such as the bill itself. Hopefully the mods will realize that I am in no way soliciting for this. The site does look like a legitimate cell phone provider though.

[sticker]

I seem to remember seeing ads for this on TV last year.

[Fetid Facts]

“Your exact benefits, including the number of free Minutes you will receive, depend on the state you live in.”

That just won’t do! How can I make medical appointments, contact emergency services, and keep in touch with family and friends after I use all my free minutes on the first day? It’s ridiculous to expect me to schedule my entire social life and medical emergencies around one day per month. I need unlimited minutes and while we’re at it, I also need a free computer and free high-speed internet access to go with my free housing and free food.

I’m also not happy with the prospect of having to wait on an ambulance to take me to the emergency room for free medical care, and my free frozen food keeps melting at the bus stop. I need a free car with free maintenance and free gasoline too. I know it would be asking too much for an around-the-clock driver in case I’m too sick or intoxicated to drive, but maybe you could provide me with some extra cash to pay a neighbor or family member to drive my car, just in case. You might also want to send those cash payments on a weekly basis, since money tends to get lost or stolen around here, and I shouldn’t be punished for that.

[50sDad]

Will this madness never end? Will my tax dollars next be buying bigger TV’s than I have for deadbeats with no job in the name of “fairness”?

[oldteen]

Right...the Lifeline programs have been around for years with landlines, electricity and heat programs. It is now gone into the cell phone with a program. I remember back in the mid 90s with the heat, electricity and landlines from older folks I knew then.

[Tallguy]

Everybody who wonders what all those taxes on your phone bill & wireless phone bill are for, now you know. How do you like paying inflated rates so that somebody can have a ‘free’ phone on your dime?

[chasio649]

Truth bump