Did you know that the 'Universal Access Fee', 'Universal Service Fund', or in the case of Verizon Wireless the 'Federal Universal Service Charge' that I pay approximately $1.27 every month, supports a Federal programme that provides all those Obama phones to people in need. Now I wouldn't mind if that was truly the case, but as the following video shows, some of those allegedly needy people are actually gaming the system. The woman in the video has 30 of those 'free' Obama phones, and it appears they are easily obtainable.
Apparently, that fee each and every one of us pays every month happens to fund a programme called Lifeline which was initially created to make sure people have access to a landline phone and 9/11 service. At some point cell phones were added, and this is where it has become a huge problem. Because they are so easy to get, many people will stockpile phones and sell the extra ones they have. In Maryland alone, the amount of people signed up for the Lifeline programme has skyrocketed from 6,000 in 2008, to 231,000 in 2011 increasing the costs from $1 million to $24 million a year in just 3 years.
Arkansas congressman Tim Griffin is trying to change that by removing cell phones from the Lifeline programme.
This is one of the many reasons this country is broke.
H/T WIOD
2 comments:
Did YOU know that this was something approved by Congress in 1996 so calling it the Obamaphone is childish and not factual? And that it costs nothing to taxpayers? I don't think you said it did but the implication is there and most people just believe it.
Actually, I'm not the one calling them Obamaphones, I'm just quoting others. check out the link in this post. As for taxpayers, yes we are, indirectly through that fee each and every one of us pays every month for our cell phones.
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