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Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tennessee)
House Republicans pulled out all the stops on Capitol Hill today criticizing the Lifeline subsidy program that provides low-cost phone service to the poor, including one congresswoman questioning whether Boston Marathon bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev received a free cell phone after newspaper accounts suggested he had previously received welfare benefits.
“I even had one constituent [ask] after it came out that the…terrorists that committed the bombings in Boston were receiving welfare benefits, were they in this program? I think those are the kind of questions that our constituents are asking,” Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) asked at a House hearing on the Federal Communication Commission’s (FCC) Lifeline program.
Several Republicans criticized the program for handing out free or low-cost cell phones some conservative critics have dubbed “Obamaphones” without much eligibility verification.
Blackburn complained the cost of the program has ballooned in cost over the last 29 years.
“When the Lifeline program was introduced in 1984, it only cost the government $380 million a year. Now that has increased to $2.2 billion,” Blackburn said. “This is the kind of explosive growth this program has seen.”
The House Republican-led investigation is unlikely to net any real changes to the program, but Democratic critics have charged Republicans with playing politics with the poor.
Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) added some critics have made up myths about the program to score political points.
“Here are the facts: President Obama did not create Lifeline, the government does not give away free cellphones or iPads, nowhere in America except in Tennessee do they call it an ‘Obama phone,’ and eliminating the Lifeline program — or disqualifying wireless services — would not reduce our nation’s budget deficit by a single penny,” Waxman said.
Cleveland loves the Obamaphone, Henry Waxman!!
so says this famous woman.
“Everybody in Cleveland, all minorities got an Obamaphone!”
see this link
https://www.freegovernmentcellphones.net/
Obama has GREATLY expanded the program since he entered office. That’s why it’s known as the Obamaphone to both his fans and non-fans
Bob, You need to get your FACTS straight. According to PolitiFact:
“The term “Obama phones” has been attached to Lifeline since at least late 2009, when PolitiFact rated as Mostly False a chain email claim that Obama was giving away free phones. More famously, a viral video during the 2012 presidential campaign showed an Obama supporter saying “Everybody in Cleveland — low (income), minority — got Obama phones.” Soon after, PolitiFact gave a Florida state official a Pants on Fire rating for saying the Obama campaign was giving out phones.”
http://www.politifact.com/texas/statements/2013/mar/15/steve-stockman/steve-stockman-says-president-spending-22-billion-/
Which of my facts are wrong? I had no facts wrong in my response. Snopes gives a mixed True/False to the Obamaphone controversy. https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/phone-home/ Some companies were giving bounties to sales people(who went to inner city neighborhoods to push the program) for every phone that they could sign up. That’s why some people on the program have multiple phones. And, YES, the Obama Administration has greatly expanded the program, from 7 million to over 12 million. (found at the end of the Snopes article). The cost has exploded over the years, because now people get smartphone cell phones. In the… Read more »
Well, I note that the Snopes piece declares the claims about Obamaphones that “The Obama administration created a program to provide free cell phones and service to welfare recipients.” to be FALSE! What is true is that there is a government program (under Ronald Reagen!). As to your link to the Washington Times Communities piece: I note that the Times has the following disclaimer: “Who We Are This is the Communities at WashingtonTimes.com. Individual contributors are responsible for their content, which is not edited by The Washington Times. The opinions of Communities writers do not necessarily reflect nor are they… Read more »
1) I never said that Obama created the program. His administration has greatly expanded the program to cellphones. The $ spent has ballooned. Carlos Slim is being enriched by this program.
2) I am greatly amused that you discovered that the Washington Times piece was Satire. That was my point, and thought a little levity was needed in this discussion.
I thought that James Curry’s comments were MUCH better!
I think the Obamaphone meme was particularly hot during the 2012 presidential campaign, around which time that bizarre video linked above turned up. I am highly suspicious of these videos because the producers frequently have their own political agenda. However, as we just saw in Sprint’s quarterly earnings call, there has been rampant abuse in this program with a lot of phones going to unqualified recipients. Most of the time it seems to be multiple phones going to a single person or household. My guess is providers were performing cursory (if any) checks to see if a household already had… Read more »
I think Obama is being unfairly criticized for the “Obamaphone” and I say that as a Conservative Republican. Having been in telecom over thirty years, I am well aware that Lifeline was established by the FCC during the Reagan Administration, expanded to wireless by the FCC under the Bush II Administration, and reformed by the FCC under Obama. FWIW: the FCC is an independent federal agency, it is not considered part of the Administration. Although the Commissioners are appointed by the President, the Agency itself reports directly to Congress. So if anyone has complaints about Lifeline, those complaints s/b directed… Read more »
Breaking: Boston Bombers may have driven on roads that your tax dollars paid for.
Story at 11.
PERFECT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!