[–] ScreaminMime 0 points 6 points 6 points (+6|-0) ago
Those were actually Bush phones buuuuuut, I still like the idea.
[–] Dildo-Shwaggins 1 point 8 points 9 points (+9|-1) ago
Not really. Like many social programs Obama expanded them from the needy to the poor greedy. The poor greedy win every time.
[–] 0110001111 0 points 1 point 1 point (+1|-0) ago
Notice how every time a new socialist program comes out it a) ensures that all poor people are conveniently under the bracket to be beholden to their own proposed taxes, and b) The people on the hook to pay are conveniently upper middle class/middle class people who make too little to be considered rich, but too much to be considered poor.
[–] WalterMelon 2 points 4 points 6 points (+6|-2) ago (edited ago)
Can we stop being r/T_D that’s just 6hrs behind.
[–] LionElTrump 0 points 2 points 2 points (+2|-0) ago
Federal regulators were instructed to keep a massive fraud investigation – concerning the “Obamaphone” program, meant to help get low-income families cellphone access – under wraps until a day after a controversial vote to expand the program, one of those regulators claims.
I MEMBAH
[–] ThisIsntMe123 0 points 1 point 1 point (+1|-0) ago
They'd post on 4chan asking for a hack/free WiFi.
[–] bloodguard 0 points 1 point 1 point (+1|-0) ago (edited ago)
I saw one of these "free" phones -dude-with-a-table-under-a-tent- things in Berkeley just this morning. I'm kind of surprised they're still running.
I guess the Telcos bribed gave speaking fees to someone in the Trump administration to keep on the taxpayer gravy-train.
[–] maaaaa 6 points 7 points 13 points (+13|-6) ago (edited ago)
I'll say it one more time. If you're retired or unemployed, living at or below a subsistence income, those phones are a godsend. You can't do nothing, apply for a job, make an appointment, ask friend or family for help, etc. without a phone, messaging and email. Phone booths are a thing of the past. Job applications are all done over the Net.
[–] anotherdamnartist 2 points 15 points 17 points (+17|-2) ago
Go to the god damn library.
[–] Tor1 0 points 3 points 3 points (+3|-0) ago
But then heavenly baby Karl Marx will cry red tears in the people's afterlife paradise.
[–] [deleted] 1 point 2 points 3 points (+3|-1) ago
[–] ekmc 2 points 1 point 3 points (+3|-2) ago
Can't use a library's phone to receive calls from employers who want to interview you. At least not without spending all day in a library.
Plus there's other benefits like being able to call 911 - no pay phones anymore!
[–] Dr_Shekel_Nigger 5 points 2 points 7 points (+7|-5) ago
if you're unemployed...get a fucking job! no excuses; this is evolution, not a Disney movie
[–] 10855081? ago
The problem is they hand them out at bus stops and shit to people that already have phones. It's not uncommon for someone to have more than 1 of them seeing how all you have to do is call them and say the battery won't take a charge and they will send you another for free no questions asked. Like most "helpful" government programs it's completely ruined by corruption and incompetence.
[–] maaaaa ago (edited ago)
The reason they replace them so easily is because they're not worth a crap. You can buy the hardware on Amazon for $15. And the plan is limited to 500 meg of data a month. So anybody who does more than voice, text, and email, needs to upgrade, which isn't covered by the Government. That 's why the companies like them. For every phone delivered they get an opportunity to upsell.
[–] littul_kitton ago
I agree. And it's not a new idea. The Founders of the U.S. built subsidized communication into the Constitution, by granting Congress the power to create post offices and even post roads. Plugging everybody into the telecom economy is also in support of the General Welfare clause.
Almost everything the Obama administration did was destructive, and most of the exceptions were merely foolish. Universal uncensored communication was one of his few successes, even if he just intended to whore up a few more votes in a single election.