Are you paying to provide free cell service to people with low incomes? [PA free phone & 250 min.]

abc15.com ^ | August 5 2011 | Katrina Schaefer

[freejohn]

[Las Vegas Ron]

Then your fiend got conned into something else.

This is true, I know it for a fact as I know of at least two neighbors here that have them.

One on SSI and the other a welfare recipient.

[MayflowerMadam]

We were involved in feeding the homeless in a small SoCal city. As we were dishing out the food, after spending hours preparing it, we noticed that most of the people were chatting on their cell phones. Their phones were better than ours were. After a couple of months, we stopped participating.

[NoGrayZone]

Here is a copy of my taxes and “surcharges”, each listed separately..

Sprint Surcharges $11.25
Show DetailsHide Details And Explanation of Charges
Sprint Surcharges are rates we choose to collect from you to help defray costs imposed on us. Surcharges are not taxes on you or amounts we are required to collect from you by law. Surcharges other charges incurred to recover costs associated with governmental programs, and certain taxes imposed upon Sprint. The amounts, and the components used to calculate Surcharge amounts, are subject to change.
Federal-Univ Serv Assess Non-LD $2.88
New York State-Gross Receipts Recovery $0.38
New York State-Telecomm Excise Recovery $2.98
Suffolk County-MCTD Excise Surcharge $0.71
Suffolk County-MCTD Gross Receipts Fee $0.13
Administrative Charge $2.97
Regulatory Charge $1.20

---

$11.25

Government Fees & Taxes $13.39
Show DetailsHide Details And Explanation of Charges
Taxes and fees Sprint is required to collect from customers on behalf of the government.
New York State-911 Tax $3.60
New York State-Sales Tax $4.12
Suffolk County-911 Tax $0.90
Suffolk County-Sales Tax $4.77

---

$13.39

An additional $24.64 each month just to have the damn thing!

[bwc2221]

As part of its purchase of the NBC the FCC also required Comcast to provide Internet service for under $10/month and discounted computers to low income families. Who do you think is footing the bill. It isn't Comcast.

http://bejohngalt.com/2011/08/we-are-paying-far-more-than-we-realize/

[DJlaysitup]

“The poor are living better than the middle class that are working their ass off and still falling behind.”

Well I don’t know about better...but they are generally living just as well. I get NOTHING for free. Zero handouts.

P.S. (O.T.) I’m kinda new here - how do I reply with a quote from a previous post and have the previous post in italics like everybody else does? Thanks, DJ)

[silentknight]

Rent is a right
Cell phones are a right
Health care is a right
Cable tv is a right
Internet is a right (high speed please)
Throw in a car and gasoline

[EricT.]

Well, how else are they gonna know when to flashmob the state fair?

[Red_Devil 232]

I think that is the main purpose of these subsidized phones - Obama Mobs.

[org.whodat]

This was passed by algore, back when he and Perry were best buds.

[org.whodat]

Passed by algore!!!

[mikey_hates_everything]

Check this out

[Arrowhead1952]

Now I regret my above post on cars.

Don't worry, I posted something very similar on the Chevy volt thread the other day.

[Allegra]

I want a pony.

I want a unicorn.

And some pie.

I am so sick of paying for these non-productive, selfish thugs.

[Reeses]

I would like to see a law that anyone using a cell phone in the commission of a felony, be denied a cell phone account until they are off probation.

Think of their cell phones as personal tracking devices that they are required by law to carry at all times. Not only is their cell location silently and remotely recorded, newer phones report precise coordinates. With slight software modification the phones can take motion activated photos and record offline conversations and upload them periodically for image and speech recognition analysis, not to mention the blabber mouths divulge everything about themselves when they're on the phone.

As work automation increases, the left side of the bell curve is increasingly becoming unemployable. There is little they can do that a robot won't do faster, cheaper, better. What we're witnessing is the permanent transformation of huge numbers of people into human zoo animals. That's the future. Tracking devices will be used for determining which zoo animals are free range and which are kept in cages.

[max americana]

Same thing here in Hollywood. Our parish kept “begging” in their sermons to make the parishioners give more in our weekly service/donation but when I observed multiple times who these “beggars” are...they dressed better than I did with brand new Nikes, Hollister shirts etc. heck. some of them were even talking on their Iphones (yes, I am 100% sure of it...I was THIS close)

It was sickening. There’s a reason why I have NEVER increased my parish donation for the past 5 years because my lib church just does not have any idea on how to budget.

[GOPJ]

... friend on disability who thought to subscribe to something like this, and ended up at the end of the month with a 50 dollar bill ...

It's free IF a person sticks to the 250 minutes. If your friend was downloading games, apps, music and talking more than 250 minutes, she would have to pay for the extras.

There are people who REALLY are disabled - and a cell phone is a blessing for them. Medical emergencies do happen. But, for the gangbangers, drug addicts, almost anyone with HIV (not sick), alcoholics etc, kids with bad tempers etc, it's an outrage.

Conservatives aren't heartless - we just don't want to be played for fools - like dems.