I have always felt a bit violated when they so openly advertise the 
availability of the free cellphones.  It is funded by a $1 surcharge I think 
on every land-line phone.

I'm not surprised.


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Colin McDonald" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Wednesday, June 19, 2013 6:57 PM
Subject: Re: Fw: Obama phones and the FCC


> track phone? more like crack phone hahahahahah
>
> regards
> Colin
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Zach Shifflett" <[log in to unmask]>
> To: <[log in to unmask]>
> Sent: Wednesday, June 19, 2013 4:54 PM
> Subject: Re: Fw: Obama phones and the FCC
>
>
>>I shouldn't even  respond to this message, as I don't want to feed
>> trolls and spark debate on the list.  However, this being a ham hobby
>> list, I'm not really sure how or why this post would be applicable
>> here.
>> I'm not making a political statement here, or saying I'm on one side
>> or the other of this particular issue, but we're all just here to talk
>> radio, blindness issues, and generally rag chew.  This seems, at least
>> to me, to be a bit devisive.
>> Just my two cents.
>> Zach, KK4RUZ
>>
>> On 6/19/13, Phil Scovell <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>>>    =20
>>> text of forwarded message follows:
>>>
>>>   From: Hand In Hand <[log in to unmask]>
>>>
>>>   SOURCE: =
>>> http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2343377/I-dont-care-Hidden-camera=
>>> -catches-wireless-company-employees-passing-Obama-phones-people-say-theyl=
>>> l-sell-drugs-shoes-handbags-spending-cash.html
>>>
>>>   =20
>>>    =20
>>>   Tuesday, Jun 18 201312PM 80=B0F3PM82=B0F 5-Day Forecast
>>>   EXCLUSIVE: Hidden camera catches wireless company employees passing =
>>> out 'Obama phones' to people who say they'll SELL them for drugs, shoes,
>>> =
>>> handbags and spending cash=20
>>>     a.. The 'Lifeline' free-cell-phone scheme cost $2.2 BILLION last =
>>> year alone, all of it from fees added to the phone bills of paying =
>>> customers=20
>>>     b.. The biggest beneficiary other than low-income consumers is =
>>> billionaire Carlos Slim Helu, whose TracFone has collected $1.5 BILLION 
>>> =
>>> to date=20
>>>     c.. One company told MailOnline it will fire a salesperson who =
>>> laughed uproariously when a woman said she would sell her phone to buy =
>>> shoes=20
>>>     d.. Conservative firebrand James O'Keefe sent undercover actors to =
>>> pose as 'Obama phone' seekers aiming to sell the goods; no one turned =
>>> them down=20
>>>     e.. Legislation in Congress would remove the cell phone component of
>>> =
>>> the program, which launched in 1984 and covered only land lines until =
>>> 2008=20
>>>   By David Martosko In Washington
>>>   PUBLISHED:02:01 EST, 18 June 2013| UPDATED:07:22 EST, 18 June 2013
>>>    =20
>>>   'If you're interested in learning -- wanting to know how much the =
>>> phone's worth, [I] recommend you go to any pawn shop,' this Stand Up =
>>> Wireless worker told conservative activist James O'Keefe's undercover =
>>> plant. 'They'll be more than happy to tell you, OK?'
>>>
>>>   Undercover video shot in May by a conservative activist shows two =
>>> corporate distributors of free cell phones handing out the mobile =
>>> devices to people who have promised to sell them for drug money, to buy 
>>> =
>>> shoes and handbags, to pay off their bills, or just for extra spending =
>>> cash.
>>>
>>>   The 'Obama phone,' which made its ignominious YouTube debut outside a 
>>> =
>>> Cleveland, Ohio presidential campaign event last September, is a project
>>> =
>>> of the Federal Communications Commission's 'Lifeline' program, which =
>>> makes land line and mobile phones available to Americans who meet =
>>> low-income requirements.
>>>   Lifeline was a $2.19 billion program in 2012.
>>>
>>>   Recipients most commonly demonstrate their need by flashing an =
>>> Electronic Benefits Transfer card to verify their eligibility for =
>>> welfare payments, or by bringing tax statements to a phone provider.=20
>>>
>>>   The phones' legitimate purposes include poverty-level job applicants' 
>>> =
>>> use as contact numbers for job interviews and emergency contacts for =
>>> children of single parents.
>>>
>>>   But when James O'Keefe, whose Project Veritas is a perennial thorn in 
>>> =
>>> the side of progressive policymakers, sent an undercover actor into a =
>>> Stand Up Wireless location in Philadelphia, the man's stated purpose was
>>> =
>>> to buy drugs.
>>>
>>>   'Once you guys give me this phone, it's my phone?' he asked an =
>>> employee inside a Philadelphia brick-and-mortal Stand Up Wireless =
>>> location. 'I can, like, sell it and stuff?'
>>>
>>>   'Whatever you want to do with it,' the worker replied.
>>>
>>>   'So I'm [going to] get some money for heroin,' he offered.
>>>
>>>   The employee coolly responded, 'Hey, I don't judge.'
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> text of forwarded message ends:
>>>