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Good news. This needs to be done with every program. It costs a lot up front, but will pay off and make the programs more efficient.
The only cost to the FCC was creating a master database that the phone companies had to use.
The money they spent upfront surely has already been recouped.
They come from fees (aka TAXES) that the phone companies place on their customers (aka the TAX PAYERS.)
It's a perfect scheme, the phone companies gain a new customer base they wouldn't normally have while their paying customers foot the bill all under the lie that they're helping poor people. All this happens while the gov. pushes for it to get bigger with no oversight in order to buy votes from people.
I fear the post you and I referred to is typical of liberal thinking. Since they don't see a place on their tax return that has a specific box for 'do you want to help provide free phones for welfare slugs', they think the program isn't paid for by tax. I just simply can't understand how these fools come to that kind of conclusion. Where the holy hell do they think the money comes from? I would really like to know. I can't imagine being that empty headed.
You know..it was landline phones. They went cellphone in 2008 and didn't revamp the program to deal with cellphones.
How many multiple landline phones do you think they could get for free ?
Pretty hard to scam that program since the line/phone are fixed and couldn't be hidden if you wanted 5 more lines installed.
The government just doesn't care because it's not their money and they'll just ask for more money to cover increasing costs. They have no incentive to watch costs. The way government funding works is that if you don't use it this year you won't get it next year.
Sorry, but that's so twisted. The government should have been in the middle of it to begin with, but instead the Reagan administration left it up to industry. I don't like big government, but sometimes the government (gasp!) actually has an important role to play. Why would you trust a corporation to administer a program in a way that benefits people vs. themselves? That's not how corporations are designed--they're profit driven. If they can make money, it's good. If they can't then they aren't going to waste their time. When you give tax dollars to corporations and privatize programs like this without federal oversight, this is what you're going to get.
I fear the post you and I referred to is typical of liberal thinking. Since they don't see a place on their tax return that has a specific box for 'do you want to help provide free phones for welfare slugs', they think the program isn't paid for by tax. I just simply can't understand how these fools come to that kind of conclusion. Where the holy hell do they think the money comes from? I would really like to know. I can't imagine being that empty headed.
There's no reason to fear it like it's unknown, that's exactly how these people think.
Sorry, but that's so twisted. The government should have been in the middle of it to begin with, but instead the Reagan administration left it up to industry. I don't like big government, but sometimes the government (gasp!) actually has an important role to play. Why would you trust a corporation to administer a program in a way that benefits people vs. themselves? That's not how corporations are designed--they're profit driven. If they can make money, it's good. If they can't then they aren't going to waste their time. When you give tax dollars to corporations and privatize programs like this without federal oversight, this is what you're going to get.
I don't trust the gov. to do anything right or honestly any more or less than I trust corporations. They're both for profit organizations, some profit in cash and some profit in votes but they're both very much "for profit".
Sorry, but that's so twisted. The government should have been in the middle of it to begin with, but instead the Reagan administration left it up to industry. I don't like big government, but sometimes the government (gasp!) actually has an important role to play. Why would you trust a corporation to administer a program in a way that benefits people vs. themselves? That's not how corporations are designed--they're profit driven. If they can make money, it's good. If they can't then they aren't going to waste their time. When you give tax dollars to corporations and privatize programs like this without federal oversight, this is what you're going to get.
Look, with landline phones the rules in place worked.
When they moved to cellphones in 2008 they needed to change the rules and they didn't.
Don't blame Reagan because there were no cellphones under him.
Blame the FCC for not reviewing their rules when they made the switch.
The old landline program gave you free local calls, 911 and free toll free calls each month.
There was no need for multiple lines in one home.
Blame corporations for a government not doing it's job properly.
The FCC told companies to let customers self-certify.
How is that the fault of the phone company ?
The cost of the program tripled when they went to cellphones and it never raised an eyebrow in the FCC ?
I fear the post you and I referred to is typical of liberal thinking. Since they don't see a place on their tax return that has a specific box for 'do you want to help provide free phones for welfare slugs', they think the program isn't paid for by tax. I just simply can't understand how these fools come to that kind of conclusion. Where the holy hell do they think the money comes from? I would really like to know. I can't imagine being that empty headed.
What the h*ll does this stupid rant about liberal or conservative have to do with this? There's a difference between a tax and a fee collected by industry--do you understand that? . According to the links on this thread, the phone companies aren't required to charge an additional fee to cover the program (they could pay for it out of pocket), but they have the authority to charge it, and they choose to charge it. They had a nice little racket going. They had zero federal oversight, they could send out phones without oversight, and they got a ton of customers who were guaranteed to pay. If that isn't a fox in the hen house scenario, I don't know what is. You guys are so busy trying to blame poor elderly people that you're not looking at who the real criminal is.
The FCC even admitted it messed up when it made the switch in testimony last year and said they would tighten up the program. They did and now we see the results.
I don't know why some are defending the government; they admitted they screwed up.
What the h*ll does this stupid rant about liberal or conservative have to do with this? There's a difference between a tax and a fee collected by industry--do you understand that? . According to the links on this thread, the phone companies aren't required to charge an additional fee to cover the program (they could pay for it out of pocket), but they have the authority to charge it, and they choose to charge it. They had a nice little racket going. They had zero federal oversight, they could send out phones without oversight, and they got a ton of customers who were guaranteed to pay. If that isn't a fox in the hen house scenario, I don't know what is. You guys are so busy trying to blame poor elderly people that you're not looking at who the real criminal is.
No there isn't when that mandated fee is put forward by the government.
Too bad that didn't go to the supreme court because it would have ended up like the Obamacare "penalty" that turned out to be a tax so it could be upheld.
When it's government mandated and controlled it doesn't matter who collects it because it goes right to the government. A wolf in sheep's clothing is still a wolf and a rose by any other name is still a rose.
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. According to the links on this thread, the phone companies aren't required to charge an additional fee to cover the program (they could pay for it out of pocket), but they have the authority to charge it, and they choose to charge it. They had a nice little racket going. They had zero federal oversight, they could send out phones without oversight, and they got a ton of customers who were guaranteed to pay. If that isn't a fox in the hen house scenario, I don't know what is. You guys are so busy trying to blame poor elderly people that you're not looking at who the real criminal is.
