Obama Phones

[ArkansasHunter]

I bet the next thing he gives away is Big Screen T.V's where they can watch him give speech's. ROFL !!!!

[GlockMeister]

Originally Posted by Cyrano

Not necessarily. It all depends on how the phone is used. If it's set up to let the recipient call 911, that's fine. If it's meant to help the recipient find a job to get off welfare, that's fine too. If it's set up so apart from 911 dialing, it receives only (to let mothers be available to the school, say; or for a doctor's office to be able to contact them), that's fine too.

But if as I suspect the phone is a handout the recipient can use any way she pleases, it sucks on ice with musical accompaniment.

I can understand the thinking. The phone company charges a lot for even basic, local landline service. Further, historically (I haven't seen a study that says how or if the customs have changed with the advent of the cheap cell phone) a poor person who saved up and got a phone installed suddenly found his or her phone being used as a free public phone by the loafers on the floor or in the building. But a larger question is this:

Why has the media not reported on the "Obama Phones?"

Why have there been no reports on the establishment of the program, and its objectives? Why has there been no following of recipients of the "Obama Phone" to see how it is really being used, as opposed to how the stated goal of the program says it is to be used?

I read The Week, The Economist, read a couple of NYC papers, read msn.com, watch BBC America and listen to the local radio station. Add to that the fact my wife listens to NPR and the only independent radio station in New York City. One or the other of us should have run across this program, and neither of us did.

The fact Obama is spending tax dollars on this program to provide welfare recipients with cellphones is newsworthy. It can be spun positively or negatively. But until I read this thread, I'd never even heard of it! What's the story behind THAT?

Cyrano, a cell phone that has a good and charged battery can and does still and is still able to dial 911.

I have 3 old cell phones and neither has any minutes nor is any longer assigned to my account or anyone elses and I can still dial and call 911.

Because it;s a service not run by the cell phone company.

This is from the link under it.

Inactive telephones

In the U.S., FCC rules require every telephone that can access the network to be able to dial 9-1-1, regardless of any reason that normal service may have been disconnected (including non-payment) (This only applies to states with a Do Not Disconnect policy in place. Those states must provide a "soft" dial tone service, details can be found at http://www.fcc.gov/Bureaus/Common_Ca...D/pntris99.pdf) On wired (land line) phones, this usually is accomplished by a "soft" dial tone, which sounds normal but will allow only emergency calls. Often, an unused and unpublished phone number will be issued to the line so that it will work properly. With regard to mobile phones, the rules require carriers to connect 9-1-1 calls from any mobile phone, regardless of whether that phone is currently active.[28] The same rules for inactive telephones apply in Canada.[29]
When a cellular phone is deactivated, the phone number is often recycled to a new user, or to a new phone for the same user. The deactivated cell phone will still complete a 911 call (if it has battery power) but the 911 operator will see a specialized number indicating the cell phone has been deactivated. It is usually represented with an area code of (911)-xxx-xxxx. If the call is disconnected, the 911 operator will not be able to connect to the original caller. Also because the cell phone is no longer activated, the 911 operator is often unable to get Phase II information.[30]




9-1-1 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


I know some don't feel Wiki is reliable, but there are other sites out there that can confirm this.

[GlockMeister]

I bet these "free" phones, or most of them anyhow, are being used to make drug deals!

This is complete BS...


Ah yes, spreading the wealth at it's best.

[GlockMeister]

Originally Posted by shop tom

here is a key point that seems to be overlooked:


"funding for the lifeline program is collected in the form of surcharges that are included in telephone and cellular phone bills."

free cell phones and airtime for low income households -truth!

tom

SO! iT'S STILL Taxpayers or hardworking taxpaying Americans are still paying for it, for them to have them for free!!!!

[GlockMeister]

Originally Posted by nsimpson

I'll swap you your job for my Obama phone.

Why not use the Obama phone to call him and tell him to use the 1.4 million he got as part of that BS peace prize he didn't earn to pay for this welfare spread the wealth entitlement program instead of using taxpayer money...

[GlockMeister]

Originally Posted by petrol

Tax payers expence; police, military, schools, fire dept, interstate highways, national, state and local parks.

Sorry petrol, these others you mention, they BENEFIT EVERYONE. Not just some.

[BenchRest]

Originally Posted by ArkansasHunter

I bet the next thing he gives away is Big Screen T.V's where they can watch him give speech's. ROFL !!!!

Hummm... got any forms for that?!?

[nsimpson]

Originally Posted by GlockMeister

Sorry petrol, these others you mention, they BENEFIT EVERYONE. Not just some.

Helping someone get off welfare benefits everyone too.

[nsimpson]

Originally Posted by grizcty

What happened to the days.
When churches, communities, and neighbors helped each other in times of need?
Remember the great depression?

The problem with relying on churches, communities, and neighbors is that those most able to help rarely live anywhere near those most in need. What passes for need in one parish may seem like luxury from another, and givers of charity tend to judge, giving not to those most in need but to those they feel are most deserving.

I don't remember the great depression, but if you do and you are still working 18 hour days then my hat is off to you, sir.

Originally Posted by grizcty

Why should I give up my business, I busted my ass for. (as you said)
To go on welfare, That is a stupid thing to say.

That's my point. I was mocking the suggestion that receiving welfare is in any way preferable to paying for it. I've worked and I've been on welfare, working is easier. I challenge anyone who disagrees to prove their point by giving up their work and trying to survive on welfare. The free phone won't seem like a fair swap for the income, identity, and social standing you've lost.

I'm sure some folks think you're special, I only meant you're not special in the sense that you are not unique in being dedicated, hard working, and educated.
If that hypothetical phone rings, I'll see if I can find a way to actually answer it.

[GlockMeister]

Originally Posted by nsimpson

Helping someone get off welfare benefits everyone too.

God helps those who help themselves.


And I never said it wasn't. But giving someone a free cell phone at the taxpayers expense, to me anyhow, isn't the way to help get them get off welfare. They, and others see it and figure hell, I can not work and now not only get free money, food and whatever else, but also a free cell phone.

And I'm sorry. But if I applied for welfare, and when I listed my cell phone bill as part of my expenses, they WOULD NOT SEE IT AS A NECESSITY and they would expect me to get rid of it. Because let's face it, a cell phone is not a necessity, it is a luxury. To me it isn't anyways.

It wasn't a good part of my, our life, and I felt lower then dirt because I had no choice and was forced to do it, but then after I did I was pissed. But we had to apply for welfare and we got turned down because we owned a home and had a car. they expected us to sell the car and then when that money was gone and we then were in default of our mortgage then they'd help us. But in the meantime, because we had kids, they "let" us have Medicaid. The only bullshit catch, because we had the house and that car, and until we sold that car and lost that house, they also gave us a $2000 medical spend down. Basically a $2000 deductible.

So the only ones welfare benefits are those who have nothing or have had to lose everything just to get it. So as far as I'm concerned, it should help someone BEFORE they lose everything. So welfare itself in my book doesn't even benefit everyone.


I got no problem helping someone get off welfare. But they should first deserve to be on it. Some who are on it are simply using and cheating the system and something like this just gives them something else to cheat and use the system for.

[nsimpson]

Originally Posted by GlockMeister

God helps those who help themselves.

Yes, but does God differentiate between taxpayer funded programs that BENEFIT EVERYONE, and taxpayer funded programs that BENEFIT EVERYONE?

I noticed the fire department was on the list, the fire department only helps people whose houses are on fire. My house isn't on fire, why should I have to pay for the fire department?

Originally Posted by GlockMeister

Because let's face it, a cell phone is not a necessity, it is a luxury. To me it isn't anyways.


I got no problem helping someone get off welfare.

Getting off welfare necessitates the use of a phone. I'm sure there are exceptions, people being offered jobs because they are in the right place at the right time, employers who still send letters to candidates they want to interview, but when you're looking for work you need to always be contactable by phone.

[GlockMeister]

First off, last I saw, there are still pay phones all over the place.

And if I remember correctly, if you're on or qualify for welfare already, odds are, you qualify for a land line credit through a state program as well. And yes, there is such a phone credit or free land line program out there in most if not all states.

And as far as I'm concerned, a person on welfare DOES NOT NEED BOTH A LAND LINE AND A CELL PHONE. They should be happy getting free food, free medical and whatever else they get for free. Too many are out there not only looking for handouts but looking for more handouts. And they not only expect them, they feel they are owed them and that they deserve them.

I REPEAT. A CELL PHONE, IS NOT, REPEAT, IS NOT A NECESSITY!


I'm done. Not going to waste my time going back and forth. I've said how I feel and given my opinion on the matter.

Now .

[nsimpson]

Originally Posted by GlockMeister

So the only ones welfare benefits are those who have nothing or have had to lose everything just to get it. So as far as I'm concerned, it should help someone BEFORE they lose everything. So welfare itself in my book doesn't even benefit everyone.

But helping anyone, no matter how much they need or deserve it, find a job and get off welfare reduces the cost of welfare for everyone.

Welfare itself is beneficial to everyone because it allows us to keep enough people out of work to control wage growth.

Making you sell your car was just stupid, it must have made it much harder to find another job, it's like the opposite of getting a free phone.

[nsimpson]

Originally Posted by GlockMeister

First off, last I saw, there are still pay phones all over the place.


And as far as I'm concerned, a person on welfare DOES NOT NEED BOTH A LAND LINE AND A CELL PHONE.

I'm don't see many pay phones anymore, there not much good for taking calls anyway, and looking for work requires a combination of always being contactable and leaving the house. a person on welfare does not need both a land line and a cell phone, they may not even have a place to put a land line, they just need a cell phone.

[Cyrano]

AT&T has been quietly phasing out pay phones in the cities for about 10 years now. Example in point, admittedly an extreme one: Grand Central Terminal in New York City. There was a space behind the East Staircase that had a double rank of pay phones in 1930s-style oak phone booths with the folding oak and glass doors, and a third rank of phones facing the back to back rank when I was passing through GCT in the 1970s, 1980s and even into the mid-1990s. There were at least 50 pay phones in that area, maybe more; I didn't count them. There were also phones on the walls of the corridors from Lexington Avenue leading into the main lobby of the station

Today that space is occupied by a very large, walk-in news stand that sells newspapers, magazines, paperbacks, OTC medicines, candy, snack foods and bottled water and sodas. All those phones are just gone. So are the ones in the Lex Ave corridors.

As far as I remember, the only pay phones left in GCT are in a ticket-holder's waiting area by the restrooms on the upper level on the west side of the station, perhaps 8 or 10 of them; and they don't get used much. Perhaps there are some on the lower level, my commute didn't take me through the food court down there; but even if there are, the number of pay phones in Grand Central is down by at least 90%.

There used to be pay phones on almost every corner of the main north-south avenues of NYC. Most of them are gone. No idea what the percentage is, but it's high.

Lots of convenience stores and bars used to have a pay phone on the wall, either by the entry door or in the corridor to the rest rooms. Those are mostly gone too.

Long story short: wireless phone technology has killed off pay phones. Home landlines will be next. Eventually business phones may go too, unless the phone companies can shift from copper to fiber-optic and make it worth their customers' whiles to stay with them.

In any case, if you are job-hunting you can't use a pay phone as your contact point. You need a phone that you control so would-be employers can get hold of you. I think that's what the motivation is behind the Obama-Phones. They will give those who have them a way to be contacted by employers, schools, hospitals and such.

I suppose we should count ourselves fortunate that the Annoying One is not plastering his jug-eared, smug smiley-face on the damned things. But as with firearms, once they are in the hands of the consumer the seller, in this case the yankee gummint, has no control over what the consumer does with them.

Considering we have low-ranked enlisted personnel who get so little money they have to feed their families on food stamps, I find the whole Obama-Phone program an affront to our culture. It stands as proof to me that once the plebs discover they can vote themselves bread and circuses, that is exactly what they do... until the money runs out.

[lynxpilot]

Originally Posted by nsimpson

Helping someone get off welfare benefits everyone too.

That's a dangerous attitude and sets a horrible precedent. Those words essentially justify no end of 'stealing from the rich to pay the poor'.

Government at any level has proven over time that they/it is not capable of legislating morality, which includes funding charity. The determination of where money is distrubuted MUST lie with strict guidelines or with the individual that earned it. There are constitutional guidelines on levying of taxes and expeditures by the fed, and the fed needs to stick to them. My personal belief is that no federal money shall be spent on anything that doesn't equally benefit every man, woman, and child in the country. If there is any other need remaining, to me known as 'special interest', it needs to be funded by charity and not in the hands of government at all.

You'd be blind to not realize that politicians now pander to the 'entitlement' crowd that believes they are owed all these things (of course at the working taxpayer's expense) so politicians continue to create avenues of spending that gets them more votes.

[TexasT]

If I can't benefit from it then I don't think anybody else should have it.


I think that's how a lot of people feel about most social programs. If they can't benefit from it then why should somebody else benefit from everyone else's proverbial tax dollars? I swear, some of you guys must be billionaires with how far your tax dollars are stretched. I am in the wrong profession.

[GlockMeister]

Sorry TT, I could have benefited from the cash for clunkers but I didn't. I didn't think it right I should add to the enormous deficit just because I could use a new car.

So no, for me it isn't if I can't benefit from it no one should, for me it's I think people should get off there lazy butts and get a job and pay for things on their own. If they can;t, then maybe they should do without or not have or get them until they can?

I'm on disability. If I can't afford something I do and go without. Or, I get it and stop getting something else or I stay home even more then I already do. And if it ends up where I am short on cash for getting food, before I go begging or expecting others to get it for me or give it to me, I'll have my satellite turned off. Then, my internet will go, and so on. But i'll be damned if I'll take a handout just because it's there.

So don't give me this if I can't get it no one should. I am on a very limited budget and I make do. Everyone else should as well.

And if they're out of work they need help paying for food and rent and such, not help for a cell phone.



And you're not in the wrong profession TT. You just can't get enough kool-aid and anything Obama does you see as the word of God or something. I've yet to hear or say anything bad about him or what he's done.

That's fine, you have that right. But don't condemn or rag on me or anyone else if I or they don't agree with you or others that think Obama's crap don't stink.

[woody1981]

Originally Posted by GlockMeister

Cyrano, a cell phone that has a good and charged battery can and does still and is still able to dial 911.

I have 3 old cell phones and neither has any minutes nor is any longer assigned to my account or anyone elses and I can still dial and call 911.

Because it;s a service not run by the cell phone company.

This is from the link under it.

Inactive telephones

In the U.S., FCC rules require every telephone that can access the network to be able to dial 9-1-1, regardless of any reason that normal service may have been disconnected (including non-payment) (This only applies to states with a Do Not Disconnect policy in place. Those states must provide a "soft" dial tone service, details can be found at http://www.fcc.gov/Bureaus/Common_Ca...D/pntris99.pdf) On wired (land line) phones, this usually is accomplished by a "soft" dial tone, which sounds normal but will allow only emergency calls. Often, an unused and unpublished phone number will be issued to the line so that it will work properly. With regard to mobile phones, the rules require carriers to connect 9-1-1 calls from any mobile phone, regardless of whether that phone is currently active.[28] The same rules for inactive telephones apply in Canada.[29]
When a cellular phone is deactivated, the phone number is often recycled to a new user, or to a new phone for the same user. The deactivated cell phone will still complete a 911 call (if it has battery power) but the 911 operator will see a specialized number indicating the cell phone has been deactivated. It is usually represented with an area code of (911)-xxx-xxxx. If the call is disconnected, the 911 operator will not be able to connect to the original caller. Also because the cell phone is no longer activated, the 911 operator is often unable to get Phase II information.[30]




9-1-1 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


I know some don't feel Wiki is reliable, but there are other sites out there that can confirm this.

Thanks for this 911 info, Glock. Which is why I and my wife donate our old, used cell phones to the local Abuse Shelter.

[TexasT]

Originally Posted by GlockMeister

Sorry TT, I could have benefited from the cash for clunkers but I didn't. I didn't think it right I should add to the enormous deficit just because I could use a new car.

So no, for me it isn't if I can't benefit from it no one should, for me it's I think people should get off there lazy butts and get a job and pay for things on their own. If they can;t, then maybe they should do without or not have or get them until they can?

I'm on disability. If I can't afford something I do and go without. Or, I get it and stop getting something else or I stay home even more then I already do. And if it ends up where I am short on cash for getting food, before I go begging or expecting others to get it for me or give it to me, I'll have my satellite turned off. Then, my internet will go, and so on. But i'll be damned if I'll take a handout just because it's there.

So don't give me this if I can't get it no one should. I am on a very limited budget and I make do. Everyone else should as well.

And if they're out of work they need help paying for food and rent and such, not help for a cell phone.



And you're not in the wrong profession TT. You just can't get enough kool-aid and anything Obama does you see as the word of God or something. I've yet to hear or say anything bad about him or what he's done.

That's fine, you have that right. But don't condemn or rag on me or anyone else if I or they don't agree with you or others that think Obama's crap don't stink.

The kool aid drinker thing is getting old. I'm not a kool aid drinker, I just happen not to think everything the man does is evil. It actually you who's the kool aid drinker. Some of the stuff that comes across the forum that is absolutely ridiculous you've believed so...that makes YOU the kool aid drinker. I also don't think everybody that's on welfare is lazy and doesn't want to work. I suppose all those people who are losing their jobs and haven't been able to find one yet are lazy bums? There are people on this very forum who lost their jobs. If they had to go on welfare after their money ran out would you condemn them too? People have hard times sometimes. Maybe if YOU weren't so busy condemning poor people then you could see that too. Yes, there are some people who abuse the system but it's not everybody. So don't take assistance if you don't think you need it, but don't rag on poor people who may need it for a period of time.