Tax Dollars Paying For Free Cell Phones?
There's a chain email going around claiming that "taxpayer money is being redistributed to welfare recipients for free cell phones."
I had a former employee call me earlier today inquiring about a job, and at the end of the conversation he gave me his phone number. I asked the former employee if this was a new cell phone number and he told me yes this was his "Obama phone."
I asked him what an "Obama phone" was and he went on to say that welfare recipients are now eligible to receive (1) a FREE new phone and (2) approx 70 minutes of FREE minutes every month. I was a little skeptical so I Googled it and low and behold he was telling the truth. TAX PAYER MONEY IS BEING REDISTRIBUTED TO WELFARE RECIPIENTS FOR FREE CELL PHONES.. This program was started earlier this year. Enough is enough, the ship is sinking and it’s sinking fast. The very foundations that this country was built on are being shaken. The age-old concepts of God, family, and hard work have flown out the window and are being replaced with "Hope and Change" and "Change we can believe in." You can click on the link below to read more about the "Obama phone"…just have a barf bag ready. https://www.safelinkwireless.com/EnrollmentPublic/home.aspx Google: Safelink Wireless
As it turns out (big surprise), you shouldn't believe everything you read in chain emails. I'm looking at those of you who keep propagating this falsity, like the Facebook user who posted this message:
So apparently cell phones are no longer a luxury but a necessity and our tax dollars are now being used to provide free cell phones plus 70 min. of talk time a month to anyone receiving food stamps, federal public housing assistance, or medicaid! Including free rollover minutes, call waiting, and voicemail. (just see... link below!) I mean seriously?!! And we wonder why the government is going broke . . . where are the handouts for broke law students?
If you spent just two minutes of your time to check the validity of these claims, you'd find out that this chain email is completely false! As FactCheck.org puts it:
Low income households have been eligible for discounted telephone service for more than a decade. But the program is funded by telecom companies, not by taxes, and the president has nothing to do with it.
Now, I'll admit, the SafeLink website makes a somewhat misleading claim that it is "government supported." As it turns out, the government does support the program, but not financially. The Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC) was created as part of the 1996 Telecommunications Act to administer the Universal Service Fund (USF), which provides financial backing for companies like SafeLink. Telecom companies are the only contributors to this fund.
To summarize, this program is 1) not financed with taxes, 2) not created by Obama, and 3) not replacing your God or family in any way. You are despicable if you knowingly pass on false information, and you are stupid if you believe this chain email without validating its claims.
