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Obama Phone

belated 4 23 poster boy for reverse discrim // welfaRe queen?

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Fox News' Jesse Watters: “Kamala wants to win the Black vote with free money and drugs”

10/15/24 mma

Jesse Watters says Kamala Harris' policies are “reparations in disguise”

10/14/24 mma

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A short history of the ‘Obamaphone’

The so-called "Obamaphone" is back into the news in recent days because of a GAO report on the Federal Communication Commission's Lifeline program.

Tom Temin@tteminWFED

July 6, 2017

Shortly after be became president, Barack Obama encountered a woman at a town hall meeting. She asked for help in obtaining a new kitchen and bathroom. She did get a peck on the cheek from the president.

Like all presidents, Obama became, for some people, the personification of their hopes.

During the 2012 election, a viral video concerned something call the “Obamaphone.” A woman in Cleveland exclaimed she and all her friends were given “Obamaphones.” Free cellphones from the government! It registered in my mind as an oddball concept, but I never followed through. The term somehow got creatively twisted to sound as if Obama — the administration, or the campaign maybe — was buying votes with cellphones.

So what is the etiology of “Obamaphone”?

A little history. As far back as the 1930s, public policy established the need for universal phone service. During the Reagan administration, the FCC established the Universal Service Fund. A tax on everyone’s phone bill fed the fund, which enabled people to receive subsidies for basic telephone service. To qualify, a person or household must be receiving one or more of several federal assistance benefits. By the logic that established the term “Obamaphone,” you’d have to call a 1980s rotary phone installed via the Universal Service Fund a Reaganphone.

During the Obama administration, the FCC’s approach to universal service expanded. Congress in 2009 enacted a law ordering the FCC to develop its National Broadband Plan. The Obama administration, well into the internet and wireless age, agreed that broadband and cellular services are essential. So, yes, citizens of various federal programs could qualify for a cellphone — a basic one, not the latest iPhone or Galaxy — with a plan they receive under Lifeline.

The program has come back into the news in recent days, principally on conservative sites, because of a Government Accountability Office study of Lifeline, one of four FCC programs funded by the Universal Service Fund.

The fund itself has reached about $10 billion, according to the GAO’s Seto Bagdoyan. Among the problems GAO found: The FCC keeps the funds in a private bank it pays $1.7 million a year to manage. In my interview, Bagdoyan says even his team of forensic auditors could not find the misty origins of this arrangement. It apparently dates to the fund’s origination. Now the FCC has a plan to migrate the fund to a Treasury account, where it belongs.

GAO also found fault with how the FCC administers Lifeline. The agency tries to oversee a complicated, multi-tier arrangement consisting of carriers, Lifeline contractors, and call centers. It all adds up to the impossibility of knowing how much fraud and abuse occurs. Sorting this out is a long-term challenge for FCC. For now, though, the GAO couldn’t determine how many of a sample of 3 million Lifeline recipients actually qualify by virtue of being on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program or Social Security disability.

There must be money in the Lifeline program. Even Virgin Mobile — the Virgin that has the airline and the hotels — has a Lifeline subsidiary.

In digging a little into this, I did find at least one Lifeline contractor only too happy to capitalize on the “Obamaphone” phenom. It actually calls itself Obamaphone.com. Somewhere on its site this company does acknowledge the term is slang, not an FCC designation.

With little evidence of congressional or White House desire to end the program, maybe it’s time to switch to a new term: “Trumpphone.”

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What is an obamaphone? Does it exist?

Quora

https://www.quora.com › What-is-an-obamaphone-Doe...](https://www.quora.com/What-is-an-obamaphone-Does-it-exist)

Jul 6, 2020 — A so-called “Obamaphone” is a cheap (about $7) flip phone or a low-cost (about $20) subsidized Android phone available to people in extreme ...

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When you hear “Obama phone” the speaker is lying AND trying to slander BHO. “Obama phones” are provided by a law signed by Bush 43. As social policy, congress decided years ago to subsidize phones for poor people because you can’t call an ambulance or cops or get a job with no phone. For a long time (and still) poor people can get a landline for VERY little money, Then someone figured out that cell phones were as cheap or cheaper than landline subsidies and the law was changed to allow low-cost or free cell phone service instead of landlines.

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bs

august 19, 2013

A Day 'Selling' Obama Phones

By Ronald Kimmons

We walked around toward the rear of the building, where the government offices were located. Another young man was already there, a company ID card hanging over his T-shirt. The two marketers with whom I had come informed me that this more casually clad fellow was from a competing firm. Apparently, representatives from both companies frequently came to the same corner to give away free government-funded mobile phones from different manufacturers and carriers. This was a prime contact point because of the government offices inside the building, and I expected the usual tense moment that tends to occur when two competitors are forced to operate within close confines. However, no such moment ever came. Everyone nodded a friendly greeting, and the work commenced.

The reason for the lack of competitive spirit soon became evident. It was not long before the marketer I was shadowing, signing someone up for a mobile phone, immediately referred her to his competitor. The competitor then commenced to sign her up for one as well. The marketer I was following -- we will call him Jake -- explained that these people were, in fact, allowed to have a mobile phone from each carrier. This was useful because many of them had children who needed phones, and because the minutes on each phone were limited, with a requirement that the user pay fees whenever that limit was exceeded. This general spirit of cooperation continued, with each company referring prospects to the other. Whenever someone said he already had a free government-funded mobile phone, the next question was always: "Is it the black one or the silver one?" Regardless of the answer, someone would suggest that the owner of that free phone consider getting another.

The day had been overcast, with a little rain in the morning, so we had brought umbrellas. Mine was leaning against the wall. "Don't walk too far away from that," warned Jake. "It will disappear." My umbrella made it home that day, but the umbrella belonging to the other marketer -- whom we will call Amir -- found its way home with someone who apparently needed it more.

Hours passed, and hundreds of people seeking government assistance filed in and out of the building. Some of these did not speak English. Luckily, though, while neither Jake nor Amir was bilingual, both had learned all of the basic lines in Spanish. Being able to speak Spanish and Mandarin, I was able to help out in a few moments of confusion.

Before long, we Obama phone guys were not the only direct marketing personnel on that sidewalk: a cable salesman showed up, in his company's uniform, and started signing up various public benefit recipients for that as well. Apparently, people on food stamps are prime candidates for cable as well as free phones. Unfortunately, he faced a tougher task, as he actually had to charge for his services. However, he apparently tended to be successful enough, as it became clear that this was a regular post for him.

I went and ate lunch with Jake. He explained the company structure. If I were to be selected for the position, I would be able to move up the ranks in this swiftly growing company. Within a year, I ought to be able to open my own office and make six digits. During that year, I would probably learn a lot more about business than I had learned so far in my ranked MBA program. To illustrate the level of growth that was being seen, he told me that the company was opening six more offices in New England over the next few months. Of course, I would have to settle for a very low level of pay in the beginning, but just until I had proven myself. Then I could open an office, kick back, and let a bunch of other chumps do the work for me.

We continued to sign people up for free phones with free service, even if they already had an iPhone or a Galaxy. Did they qualify for Section 8 housing? Food stamps? Mass Health? Then they qualified for a free phone. (Two, actually.) One woman angrily said that she had previously been told she could have two phones, but that she had received a notice from the government after signing up for the second phone. In this notice, she had been told that she could keep only one of the phones.

"Yeah, that's the loophole," Jake explained to me. "They can sign up for a second phone, but then they have to choose between the two. But they have eight months to do it, so they can have two phones for up to eight months."

Later in the afternoon, we walked to a nearby bus station and approached people there. We asked the people crowded around the benches if they were receiving any kind of government assistance. Whenever they answered in the affirmative, we explained how there was a government program that could help them get a free phone. This program had actually begun under President Reagan, but it had recently been expanded under President Obama. It was fine if they already had a phone. Did their kids need a phone? Was anyone else in the household phoneless? One old man, hearing the specifics of the program, happily exclaimed: "What a country!"

After a day of selling on the street, we returned to the office, where I spoke with the manager. As Jake had given a good evaluation of my shadowing, the manager happily offered me the job. I told him I would need to think about it, which he did not seem to have been expecting. The next day, I called and said that it was not economically feasible for me to accept the position. This was certainly the truth, if not the whole truth.

Being a recent MBA graduate with an uncertain professional track lying ahead of me, I cannot be too judgmental of Jake, Amir, or even the management of this direct marketing firm that had invited me to become part of its growth and success. Neither can I be judgmental of the firm's competitor or even the man selling cable to welfare recipients. I cannot even bring myself to blame the people who accept the free phones that are being thrown at them despite a lack of need.

However, there is no reason to be so lenient toward the politicians and policies responsible for the absurdities of this experience. A government that chooses to wantonly offer such "assistance" without substantial proof of need -- and which chooses not to recognize the simple fact that people respond to incentives -- deserves not only to be criticized, but to be ridiculed and punished. By becoming a segment of people's regular income rather than a temporary splint for a temporary problem, our government welfare mechanisms seem to be motivated by something other than...well, people's welfare.AND WHAT WOULD THAT BE, FKWIT?

*Ronald Kimmons rules the world from his comfy swivel chair and sometimes posts interesting and controversial things on his personal blog.

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mma

right-wing media falsely and dishonestly claim that Hurricane Helene survivors are only entitled to $750 in aid

According to FEMA, survivors can also qualify for “tens of thousands more dollars” in disaster-related financial assistance

Written by Alicia Sadowski & Isabella Corrao

Published 10/04/24

In the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, right-wing media falsely claimed that Vice President Kamala Harris and the Biden administration are ignoring millions of Americans impacted by intense flooding. Media personalities and MAGA influencers have falsely and dishonestly claimed that victims are only entitled to $750 in aid, when in reality that is just the start of federal benefits.

FEMA can provide assistance for victims of Hurricane Helene, but chronic underfunding and climate change, not undocumented migrants, threaten future aid availability

To wit, on Thursday, Laura Ingraham and Jesse Watters aired a clip of Vice President Kamala Harris speaking in hurricane-ravaged Georgia the previous day. As Harris spoke on Ingraham’s show, the Fox News chyron read, “Kamala: Here’s $750 that’ll do the trick.”

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As X/Twitter super-poster Acyn Torbai noted in the video below, Fox News actually carried Harris’s speech live the previous day. The vice president explained that the $750 is just the beginning of the assistance available to impacted residents. Mediaite, [10/3/24]

* Anti-Muslim activist Brigitte Gabriel claimed that victims of Hurricane Helene would get “$750” but that a “criminal thug from South America” would get “a 4-star hotel with credit cards.” She posted, “If you lost your entire house during Hurricane Helene, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris will give you $750. If you are a criminal thug from South America and cross the border illegally through Mexico, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris will put you up in a 4-star hotel with credit cards.” Twitter/X, [10/3/24]

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