ERD50
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
... The program is not paid for by tax revenue. Telephone companies fund the program, typically through a fee that they charge subscribers.
...
The cellphones under this program have been very useful for local homeless families and individuals looking for work and housing.
Our posts may have crossed since yours was just 1 minute after mine, but in case there are any misunderstandings:
I also think this is a useful program. I just think it should be controlled so we can do the most good for the most people. Abusers take away from those who need it (there are not unlimited funds).
Here's an article about some abuses (though I can't vouch for its accuracy w/o more research):
9 Investigates abuse of free cellphone program Lifeline | www.wftv.com
The Lifeline program allows one phone per household for lower income people who qualify. Jennifer Ayala, who has a son with a serious medical condition, qualified for the program and truly needs the service.
She has used her Lifeline phone to make emergency medical calls for her son but now she worries those abusing the program will ruin the service for people who really need the phone.
"Why do you need three phones?" Ayala asked.
9 Investigates found records showing more than 46,000 Floridians somehow got more than one free phone.
I explained my feelings about not calling this a 'tax' in that post - it's semantics.
Could someone please clarify why qualifying for this program is so terrible and working the numbers on income in order to qualify for more assistance with Obama care is OK?
Who said that qualifying for the program is 'terrible' (other than it is sad that some people are on hard times and need this program) - the question I had is why aren't there controls so it serves the intended purpose and is not abused? And according to the link above, people are cheating the system and there doesn't seem to be controls in place. That's different from someone legitimately 'working' their income to maximize tax/ACA benefits within the rules. Now, if they lie about their income, that's different.
-ERD50
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