The Gummint now believes you *deserve* a cellphone.
Yup. If you earn less than 150% of the gummint-defined poverty line, that means those of us who earn more than that are going to buy you a phone *and* pay for your phone use.
Soooooo, tell me, Congers, just *how* will this stimulate the economy? Exactly *what* benefit will this have -- aside from the obvious one of purchasing *you* a whole bunch of votes?
Any Lib out there who wants to try to justify this boondoggle, go right ahead...
[Site name redacted] is a government supported program that provides a free cell phone and airtime each month for income-eligible customers.
Yup. If you earn less than 150% of the gummint-defined poverty line, that means those of us who earn more than that are going to buy you a phone *and* pay for your phone use.
Soooooo, tell me, Congers, just *how* will this stimulate the economy? Exactly *what* benefit will this have -- aside from the obvious one of purchasing *you* a whole bunch of votes?
Any Lib out there who wants to try to justify this boondoggle, go right ahead...
Ever notice that "Universal Connectivity Fee" on your phone bill?
That's your contribution......and has been since the 1930's. What started as a Gov program to pay for land lines for 'Country folk" has morphed into cell phones for food stamp recipients.
http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/phonebills/UnivServFund.html
Got to have a computer or telephone to get your unemployment or welfare "debit cards" in Indiana now............
Has this just reached the Castle area? It was in Florida in 2008
As to the (rhetorical?) question as to how it's going to stimulate the economy. Well , the study mentioned in this article suggests that it might stimulate the economy by 11.1 billion dollars
http://www.cio.com/article/207450/Giving_Cell_Phones_to_Low_Income_Households_Could_Create_11B_in_Jobs_Study_Finds
11.1 Billion dollars would help the economy wouldn't it? Got to be worth a try
Other points:
TracFone likes the scheme and the state and federal governments probably see it as a good thing too. It might well improve Public Safety (EVERYONE can now call 911) and it might just get a few thousand unemployed off the budget every month.
I repeat ... Got to be worth a try
Well , the study mentioned in this article suggests that it might stimulate the economy by 11.1 billion dollars
Did you read the study? It states that 30% of the people who used their cellphones to find a better-paying job – *not* 30% of all cellphone users, just the ones who used it to try to find better jobs – reported they’d been successful. That $11.1 billion figure you cite is based on *every single person* of the 17+ million potential cellphone recipients using it solely to find work *and succeeding* -- which is an absurd assumption.
• The handset is provided by TracFone - at its own expense
The handset costs TracFone peanuts to make, and they write off the cost – they get a tax credit for doing it.
• Users get only one hour per month as free minutes.
That’s still one hour per month that *we* are paying for. Multiply that cost by 17 million, then multiply that by twelve to see what it’ll cost per year.
• If they want more time, they have to buy cards from places like Walmart.. { Just like everybody else with a pay-as-you-go plan}. Presumably, this is where TracFone gets its money back
TracFone doesn’t get any money back because it doesn’t *lose* any. The government buys the phones and the air time, and TracFone throws in a headset and writes the cost off. TracFone makes money even if *nobody* buys any additional time.
It might well improve Public Safety (EVERYONE can now call 911)
Then why not just give police departments cellphones pre-loaded to 9-1-1 to give to people without phones? My town already *has* that program – and *I* voted to fund it out of *my* taxes quite happily.
and it might just get a few thousand unemployed off the budget every month.
Oh? There are 1500 people applying in person for *every single job* that comes open in some areas – a prospective employer isn’t going to cold call someone when he has people he can *see* in front of him.
TOTAL COST: $6 to $10 PER PHONE PER MONTH
I think there are other things you could worry about first.