THE ORIGINS OF THE ‘OBAMA PHONE’ (A FEDERAL FCC PROGRAM IN EXISTENCE BEFORE OBAMA WAS ELECTED)

Human Events ^ | 10/07/2012 | John Hayward

[SeekAndFind]

The origins of the ‘Obama phone’

A viral video flying around the Internet in the last week of September introduced America to the “Obama Phone Lady,” an angry woman with a shrill voice who turned up at an Ohio rally for the Republican presidential candidate and snarled, “Romney sucks!” Asked why she supported Obama, she rattled off a list of benefits, including: “Everybody in Cleveland minorities got Obama phones! Keep Obama in President, you know? He gave us a phone!”

Her in-your-face determination to hang on to government benefits rankled taxpaying Americans. But the most widespread immediate response to the video was, “What the heck is an ‘Obama phone?’”

It turns out the Obama Phone Lady is entirely correct about the existence of a program to provide welfare recipients with free or heavily subsidized cell phones, but Barack Obama had nothing to do with it. A program called Lifeline Assistance, originally intended to help low-income people install landline telephone service, has existed for decades. It was implemented by the Federal Communications Commission in 1984, and has changed several times over the years. There are also state-level programs that provide telecom welfare benefits.

One of the more significant changes to the Lifeline package of programs came in 2008, when subsidies for cell phone service began. On one hand, the rapidly declining cost of cell phones and cellular service made it inevitable that they would eventually become part of telecom welfare. At this point, cell phone service is arguably cheaper to provide than landline installation and service. On the other hand, it’s hard to justify buying cell phones for America’s growing dependency class. It has a certain “straw that broke the camel’s back” feeling about it.

The program is not at all difficult to qualify for. The precise eligibility requirements vary from state to state, but income within 135 percent to 150 percent of the official poverty level (currently $23,000 for a family of four) is generally required. Those who are already enrolled in a variety of welfare programs, including the increasingly ubiquitous food stamp program, automatically qualify for cell phone subsidies. Everyone else funds the program through a surcharge on their monthly cell phone bill.

Link to food stamp program

The generally explosive growth of Food Stamp Nation has driven the expansion of subsidized cell phones as well. An August report in the Dayton Daily News said that the program “has nearly doubled in size in Ohio in the past year, now covering more than a million people.” Nationwide, it is estimated that the Lifeline Assistance program grew 43 percent to 16.5 million from 11.5 million participants.

The FCC recently implemented reforms designed to cut down on the number of “free” cell phones handed out to illegitimate recipients, including a sizable number of people who ended up with more than one government-subsidized cell phone. As with so many other aspects of Food Stamp Nation, the procedures for checking applicant eligibility were scandalously lax. Nevertheless, the administrators of these programs estimate that only a little over half of the eligible beneficiaries are taking advantage of them.

Although President Obama had nothing to do with cell phone welfare, his name became associated with it due to a series of viral emails beginning in 2009. These emails were usually written in a tone of disgust, inviting the reader to marvel at how “taxpayer money is being redistributed to welfare recipients for free cell phones,” as one example put it. The unknown authors of these emails often claim to have overheard people chatting about their “free Obama phones.”

It’s disturbing how so many people have proven reflexively willing to associate government welfare “benevolence” with President Obama. A wide-ranging scam claiming that Obama would pay your electric bill took in hundreds of suckers nationwide, earlier this year. Liberals who assail the “Obama phone” story as misleading are missing the point. The problem is that a fair number of the people who have them apparently use that name for them. And according to those FCC estimates, nearly 12 percent of the adult population of the United States might qualify for them.

 

[SeekAndFind]

Watch the Obama Phone lady here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tpAOwJvTOio

I love it when she says with emphasis : “ROMNEY, HE SUCKS.”

[Opinionated Blowhard]

One of the more significant changes to the Lifeline package of programs came in 2008, when subsidies for cell phone service began

Started in 1984, expanded significantly under Bush and then even moreso under Obama. This just goes to show the rot of the Welfare State. I am sure Reagan did not specifically want to start a new entitlement but that's when it started. And Bush expanded it before Obama expanded it. No matter who is in office, the Welfare State grows.

[Stingray51]

"Although President Obama had nothing to do with cell phone welfare..."

I reject this description. The man has presided over the government during the explosive growth of the program. Either he believes in the program and is fine with it, or he has been asleep at the switch. Either way, he is responsible for it. Paying for free cell phone service for millions and millions of Americans is not some little detail that is so far below his pay grade that we can presume he know nothing about it, or excuse him if that is in fact the case.

[illiac]

From Lifeline’s website:

“...Federal rules prohibit eligible low-income consumers from receiving more than one Lifeline discount per household. An eligible consumer may receive a DISCOUNT on either a wireline or wireless service, but not both. A consumer whose household currently is receiving more than one Lifeline service must select a single Lifeline provider and contact the other provider to de-enroll from their program. Consumers violating this rule may also be subject to criminal and/or civil penalties.”

The site says nothng about FREE phones....

[Slump Tester]

I thought she said "Romney suck!" I liked when she said "Keep Obama IN president!"

Those Obama supporters really have high intellect! They smart, you know!

[informavoracious]

Chavez phones! Chavez phones! Everybody in Venezuela got Chavez phones!

[Terry Mross]

Whenever you’re talking to an “educated” liberal, ask him or her how they feel belonging to a party that has Sheila Jackson-Lee and “obama stash” screamers.

[upchuck]

My related post.

[Noumenon]

Nice chewing gum shot. My horses munching hay have way more class than that.

[SeekAndFind]

Would you like to know what President Obama is going to use in the name of a phone? He will use Sectera Edge, which does not come with many green features but is nonetheless interesting. The Sectera Edge comes with Secure Communications Interoperability Protocol, which is approved by the NSA. It is also enabled with some really secure connections of the Internet and has a standby of 60 hours. It has 5 hours of talk time and the phone will definitely be used by the president very frequently.

The American president may continue to use a phone that isn’t green enough but what he needs to do is reduce American consumption of natural resources, make sure American companies reduce their contribution to the greenhouse effect and other such things which the nation must take notice of.

Using a phone that isn’t green or environmental friendly may set a bad example. In fact, the ‘world’s most powerful man’ must be slightly more environmentally friendly than that. Nevertheless, it isn’t his fault, for a cellphone with such security may not have all the green features we crave for.

[mass55th]

Rush was saying something today about an Obama bundler and her donor husband getting kickbacks from the ObamaPhone program.

Kickbacks

[I want the USA back]

The government takes money from honest, hard-working productive individuals and gives it to indolents who vote democrat.

[Vendome]

Lifeline packages grew out of breaking up the phone company, at the time called “Ma Bell”, who held a death grip monopoly on landline service.

It’s subsidized out of business taxes on a variety of hard wire services.

I believe the wireless subsidy came from the 1996 Telecommunications Act. Not directly, but as a result of it.

It is extended to anyone below the poverty line and anyone over the age of 65.

In fact, while most of us pay some $35-$40 for a landline, including taxes, a person qualifying for “Lifeline” can receive phone service for $6.87 plus a meager amount of taxes.

The reason it’s so appalling to see people running around with Wireless, paid for by the taxpayer, is they are clearly able to pay for the service themselves and they flaunt being a “taker” right to your face.

Ain’t nuttin but a thing....baby...

[Parley Baer]

“an angry woman with a shrill voice who turned up at an Ohio rally”

It is documented that she was bused there by SEIU.

[Jane Long]

The government takes money from honest, hard-working productive individuals and gives it to indolents who vote democrat.

Bravo! So well said.

[Ann Archy]

The Obama bundler lady ($600,000 PLUS) and her husband own TRAC PHONE!!!

[Iron Munro]

Not sure - this might be photoshopped

[Roccus]

As a telco cable splicer through the 90’s, I’d like to add one thing.

The Lifeline service to landlines allowed calls ONLY to 911, the telco business office, and possibly one or two other services. Calls to any other numbers were NOT POSSIBLE with that service.

[DuncanWaring]

The greenness (or lack thereof) of that phone is irrelevant.

What’s important is “Who are the barbarians on the other end that he’s communicating securely with?”.