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I agree that there needs to be better monitoring of all government programs.
Of course, I can't think of a single one outside the defense department that conservatives haven't tried and mostly succeeded in eviscerating under Reagan, Bush and Bush. It's the old "If we shrink government so it can't do its job, then we can turn around and say government doesn't work" trick. Works every time.
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.
Knee jerk. But don't worry, if a Republican is elected president next, their knees will jerk the other direction.
Some more of that privatization crap like KBR feeding the military.
If the phone companies weren't making money, they would not be doing it. The taxes(fees) collected on all these cells phones must have made them think they had found a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.
How are they to know who qualifies? Whoever handles welfare should make the decision and tell the companies who gets a phone.
Now that this problem is known, the next thing somebody needs to look at is the self declared low income free lunch. The numbers getting reduced or free lunch has exploded. The kids get a meal, but the food producers found the pot of gold. The government wants the schools to only verify 2% of the applicants. I can fill out a form to make it look like I'm on the way to the poor house if nobody checks anything.
I agree that there needs to be better monitoring of all government programs.
Of course, I can't think of a single one outside the defense department that conservatives haven't tried and mostly succeeded in eviscerating under Reagan, Bush and Bush. It's the old "If we shrink government so it can't do its job, then we can turn around and say government doesn't work" trick. Works every time.
Cosnservatives have eviscerated almost every government program except the defense? lol The US government is spending Trillions of dollars a year. We have a HUGE federal government and neither side seems to show much interest in reducing it.
Location: Just transplanted to FL from the N GA mountains
3,997 posts, read 4,145,823 times
Reputation: 2677
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dale Cooper
Where the holy hell do they think the money comes from? I would really like to know.
The same magical mystery money fairy that pays when a student loan is defaulted on. It just *poof* disappears.... Thusly they think the debt never existed in the first place...
Some more of that privatization crap like KBR feeding the military.
If the phone companies weren't making money, they would not be doing it. The taxes(fees) collected on all these cells phones must have made them think they had found a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.
How are they to know who qualifies? Whoever handles welfare should make the decision and tell the companies who gets a phone.
Now that this problem is known, the next thing somebody needs to look at is the self declared low income free lunch. The numbers getting reduced or free lunch has exploded. The kids get a meal, but the food producers found the pot of gold. The government wants the schools to only verify 2% of the applicants. I can fill out a form to make it look like I'm on the way to the poor house if nobody checks anything.
You don't have to even be poor any more to get free lunch in some places. Some schools give everyone a free lunch so the poor kids won't "feel bad."
ETA: I don't want any kids to feel bad, they can't choose their families. But it's absurd that we are now buying lunches for families who can afford them. We don't have the money to be frivolous.
41% is no chump change. 41% of the 6 million lifeline subscribers cannot/have not provided the FCC with eligibility requirements. And the FCC initially thought a mere 15% were scamming the program.
The top phone companies providing lifeline plans have refused to give the number of plans they dropped because of this.
The FCC finally cracked down last year and demanded that subscribers provide verification of eligibility or they would be dropped.
Lifeline cost $800 million in 2008 and soared to $2 billion in 2012.
41% is more than a "few cheaters" ..that's so close to half that it should shock people.
And the FCC instituted this with "self certify" requiring no documentation.
Just sign up and check a box...no one will verify your eligibility and no one will turn you down.
They found DEAD PEOPLE with phone plans. You want to talk about corrupt programs then look no further than our own social welfare programs.
Millions Improperly Claimed U.S. Phone Subsidies - WSJ.com
The U.S. government spent about $2.2 billion last year to provide phones to low-income Americans, but a Wall Street Journal review of the program shows that a large number of those who received the phones haven't proved they are eligible to receive them.
..
Suspecting that many of the new subscribers were ineligible, the Federal Communications Commission tightened the rules last year and required carriers to verify that existing subscribers were eligible. The agency estimated 15% of users would be weeded out, but far more were dropped.
A review of five top recipients of Lifeline support conducted by the FCC for the Journal showed that 41% of their more than six million subscribers either couldn't demonstrate their eligibility or didn't respond to requests for certification.
..
The FCC until last year allowed consumers to self-certify, without requiring documentation, that they met federal poverty guidelines. Subscribers didn't have to recertify once they were enrolled in the program, and there were few checks on whether households signed up for more than one cellphone.
Some more of that privatization crap like KBR feeding the military.
If the phone companies weren't making money, they would not be doing it. The taxes(fees) collected on all these cells phones must have made them think they had found a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.
How are they to know who qualifies? Whoever handles welfare should make the decision and tell the companies who gets a phone.
Now that this problem is known, the next thing somebody needs to look at is the self declared low income free lunch. The numbers getting reduced or free lunch has exploded. The kids get a meal, but the food producers found the pot of gold. The government wants the schools to only verify 2% of the applicants. I can fill out a form to make it look like I'm on the way to the poor house if nobody checks anything.
They don't but until this reform last year they didn't have to.
The FCC said that people could "self-certify" which means check a box and no proof needed.
In the case of dead people, maybe the coroner did their self-certify
The FCC did make the rules and companies just followed them.
The FCC changed the rules last year to finally ask for proof and now 41% don't qualify.
Imagine if the FCC had put those rules in place in 2008 when they switched to cell phones ?
US taxpayers could have saved a few billion dollars over those past 4 years.
Location: Just transplanted to FL from the N GA mountains
3,997 posts, read 4,145,823 times
Reputation: 2677
Quote:
Originally Posted by brentwoodgirl
You don't have to even be poor any more to get free lunch in some places. Some schools give everyone a free lunch so the poor kids won't "feel bad."
ETA: I don't want any kids to feel bad, they can't choose their families. But it's absurd that we are now buying lunches for families who can afford them. We don't have the money to be frivolous.
A few friends on mine just told me a story about free-lunch's that knocked my socks off. These folks are working up in the gas industry... they're making decent money. They were put on the free-lunch program because their address was not listed as a "home"... it was listed as a trailer park. The schools have got to the point they don't even have you fill out the forms anymore... they just assume. These friends said they literally had to go in and beg to have their children charged, because they knew that financially it was the right thing to do...
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Thusly they think the debt never existed in the first place...
