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If you're responsible, you're obviously living too well.
Pennsylvanians on public assistance now have a new 'civil right' -- free cell phones. Meanwhile, the rest of us get to pay higher cell bills as a result.
Recently, a federal government program called the Universal Service Fund came to the Keystone State and some residents are thrilled because it means they can enjoy 250 minutes a month and a handset for free, just because they don't have the money to pay for it. Through Assurance Wireless and SafeLink from Tracfone Wireless these folks get to reach out and touch someone while the cost of their service is paid for by everyone else. You see, the telecommunications companies are funding the Universal Service Fund to the tune of $4 billion a year because the feds said they have to and in order to recoup their money, the companies turn around and hike their fees to paying customers. But those of use paying for the free service for the poor, should be happy about this infuriating situation, says Gary Carter, manager of national partnerships for Assurance, because "the program is about peace of mind." Free cell service means "one less bill that someone has to pay, so they can pay their rent or for day care...it is a right to have peace of mind," Cater explained.
Read more: Free cell phones are now a civil right
In some cases, cell phone service is actually cheaper than a landline. So depending on costs in Pennsylvania, the State may actually be saving taxpayer money by providing cell phones instead of a landline.
It's a great headline to get people's dander up, but in reality it may be a good thing. Unless you're suddenly against the government saving money, which I doubt.
This sounds exactly like government logic and what has us in the financial situation we are in. Spend money to save money. :doh
We give out free stuff but if we give away cheaper free stuff we save money!!!
How about we stop giving away "free stuff" all together. We may not "save" money but at least we would be expense neutral.
We want people to get jobs, right? (Assuming there were any). How are potential employers going to call them to give them a job?
Just to play devil's advocate for a minute...
Do what people did for years. Give them the number of a good friend.
We want people to get jobs, right? (Assuming there were any). How are potential employers going to call them to give them a job?
Just to play devil's advocate for a minute...
Assuming your friend has a phone.
As if I didn’t have any more reasons to hate the welfare system another one just fell in my lap today. Apparently there is a cell phone structure especially designed for people on the various welfare programs (Medicare, Section 8 Housing etc). The program is called Assurance which is handled through Pre-paid carrier Virgin Mobile which uses the Sprint Network for it’s service. The service is paid for through the Universal Service Fund which is apart of the Telecommunications Act of 1996. Here is the bad and good part it’s only available in five states (Michigan, North Carolina, New York, Tennessee, and Virginia) therefore limits the abuse (wishful thinking I know), but at the same time everyone pays for it through taxes!
You may wonder why I would be upset over a program that has (relatively speaking) very low impact compared to rest of the abused welfare programs. Well today I had a customer who wanted to buy one of the high end Virgin mobile phones priced at $100. At least that’s what I was able to understand since he spoke ghetto-ese. I asked him if he had service with Virgin Mobile already or was starting new service. He replied that he had this Assurance service which uses Virgin Mobile phones in to which I said “oh so your just replacing a broken phone”. I was told that his phone wasn’t broken he just wanted a better one. At the time I didn’t think much of it until I looked up Assurance and found out it was a tax payer funded cell phone. In addition the guy paid for the phone with a government assistance card and I noticed food stamps in his wallet! Of course however this type of abuse happens with all the welfare programs. I remember one time selling a 32” LCD television to someone who lived in a HUD housing area.
Which angers me the most about this program is that the market has already fixed the problem of getting a ways of communication to low income people. It’s called pre-paid, I could understand the point of this back when the act was passed in 1996 when cell phones were still pretty expensive even for the most basic of service but that’s not the case anymore. At least in New York there are at least five pre-paid carries and all the major contract wireless carriers offer pre-paid service. Hell now a days Sprint’s minimum credit deposit for those that fall into that category is $50 and basic talk service typically falls into that price range. The wheels of the market may be slow but they turn up with better results than any government program can hope to dream of.
Do what people did for years. Give them the number of a good friend.
The more free goodies gov gives people the less incentive there is to get a job.
LOL...Good idea...until you discover your friend's phone got shutoff because he lost his job and couldn't pay the bill.
I'm just saying...
I get what tic's people off about this, but sometimes when hard times are upon just about everyone you just gotta try and do whatever you can to help people stay connected.
In some cases, cell phone service is actually cheaper than a landline. So depending on costs in Pennsylvania, the State may actually be saving taxpayer money by providing cell phones instead of a landline.
It's a great headline to get people's dander up, but in reality it may be a good thing. Unless you're suddenly against the government saving money, which I doubt.
Pennsylvanians on public assistance now have a new 'civil right' -- free cell phones. Meanwhile, the rest of us get to pay higher cell bills as a result.
In some cases, cell phone service is actually cheaper than a landline. So depending on costs in Pennsylvania, the State may actually be saving taxpayer money by providing cell phones instead of a landline.
It's a great headline to get people's dander up, but in reality it may be a good thing. Unless you're suddenly against the government saving money, which I doubt.
I've heard that argument before and on the surface of it, I agree. But if you live in a depressed community/city where unemployment is high and there's little chance of rapid job growth - enough to employ those who really do want to work - you do what you can to stave off anarchy. Because if things get any worse, I'm afraid that's where this country may be headed.
Granted, a few free cell phones aren't going to help very many get back to work, but it will help them to save alittle money while still being able to get out and look for work and be able to provide a personal contact number where a potential employer can reach them, i.e., those who have moved back in with their parents or worse living in homeless shelters. It's like I said to Cold Highway above, if you notice folks are taking advantage of the free cellphone service the worse thing you can do is keep quite and rant to no one in particular who can't do a damned thing to fix the problem. But do more than just complain; offer suggestion to correct the problem. I've offered an idea or two on how one might go about chaning things in this regard. It's up to those who've actually seen the abuse and/or misues first-hand to get involved the right way.
I'm going to go out on a limb and say that the vast majority have a friend with a phone. What if they have no car to get to the interview? No computer to put in an online application? (many places only take online apps now)
Well duh,
Free Cars with Free Gas and Free Computers with Free Online Service are next!!!
Its a RIGHT MAAAAAN!
.... and so on being.A phone serves a wider purpose - usually people default to thinking of communication with friends and family. But we all use our phones to discuss business, set up dr's appointments, call schools and daycares, make transportation plans and other such necessary arrangements - and so on.
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