Free Cell Phones for the Poor (interstate, highway, elect, federal)
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All this ranting and raving over the righties, Fox News .. New York Post and yet .. No Outrage over Obama's Redistribution of wealth in the Pigford Fraud.
Stay on subject, now. The High Cost program (providing rural communities with phone services) costs 3 times more than the Low Income program.
Yet so far in this thread, everybody of a right-wing political bent has roundly condemned the Low Income program and refused to even comment on the fact that America's rural communities take 200% more out of the USF. Are you going to step up to the plate and explain why one is an outrage and the other isn't? Isn't the High Cost program just another example of wealth redistribution?
See, personally, I think both programs are a pretty good idea. The utility of my phone goes up the more phones there are on the net, all other things being equal. But it seems people are enraged with the idea of underprivileged urban dwellers getting subsidized phone service are very, very quiet about rural populations enjoying the same privilege - even though the money comes from the same fund, the USF.
1) Don't get a profession that requires DRIVING if you don't own a car or have easy access to a bus.
2) We're not talking about the disabled, we're talking about the poor.
1) The woman in question---mentioned in post #31----had a car but it finally gave out on her. It couldn't be repaired anymore and she couldn't afford to get another without the help of that program that helps low income women find cars. What was she suppose to do, change jobs to something not requiring dependable transportation in a time when jobs are almost impossible to find? How realistic would that idea be? You're also assuming all towns have good bus service, which they don't.
2) The disabled are among the poor who take advantage of the free phones so we ARE talking about them as well. People think of cell phones and they automatically think these people are getting free phones with all the bells and whistles, which they aren't. They are very basic and do only two things: receive calls and make calls.
Stay on subject, now. The High Cost program (providing rural communities with phone services) costs 3 times more than the Low Income program.
Yet so far in this thread, everybody of a right-wing political bent has roundly condemned the Low Income program and refused to even comment on the fact that America's rural communities take 200% more out of the USF. Are you going to step up to the plate and explain why one is an outrage and the other isn't? Isn't the High Cost program just another example of wealth redistribution?
See, personally, I think both programs are a pretty good idea. The utility of my phone goes up the more phones there are on the net, all other things being equal. But it seems people are enraged with the idea of underprivileged urban dwellers getting subsidized phone service are very, very quiet about rural populations enjoying the same privilege - even though the money comes from the same fund, the USF.
The far right is also fighting the program that wants to bring high-speed internet to rural America. A bunch of short-sighted and selfish people out there right now. Without government help to get things going, rural areas would still be sitting in zones without electricity, not to mention a lack of any telephone service.
Last edited by Wayland Woman; 08-04-2011 at 06:39 AM..
Voice on cellular phones for each and every person in the United States is given to you at a loss by your carrier.
All money made in cellular now is made from data.
Land lines are going buh bye, and as such, poor people who enjoyed free home phones for emergency needs and job interviews will be getting free cell phones. They'll be old phones that are sitting gathering dust, on a network that is already built, and using something thats already given to every customer in the United States today, free voice.
It is a Federal program, which means it is funded by by federal tax dollars.
The far right is also fighting the program that wants to bring high-speed internet to rural America. A bunch of short-sighted and selfish people out there right now. Without government help to get things going, rural areas would still be sitting in zones without electricity, not to mention a lack of any telephone service.
Yup. Infrastructure and market economy isn't necessarily the best combination. Hell, the Romans levied taxes to build roads and aqueducts, because they knew that was the glue of their civilization.
The US Gvt. gave generous land deals to the railroads - for the same reason.
You can't get bus service everywhere. My niece's caregiver just got one of those so-called free used cars. They do have to make payments but the cost of the cars is less than you'd pay for one on a lot and the loans are interest free. She's a woman working a minimum wage job going from house to house giving services to disabled people on Medicaid---two hours per house. She has to have a car to do that kind of work. And before you get all bent out of shape about my niece getting Medicaid, she's so disabled she can't even wipe her own butt, dress herself, or move in and out of her wheelchair without help with a Hoyer lift and a caregiver. My niece also has one of those free cell phones by her side 24/7. If my taxes are a little higher because of people like these two needing a helping hand, I could care less. "Do on to others as you would have them do on to you" and all that good Christian doctrine most of us know about but don't always practice.
That scenario is fine in my book. It's Kenny The Crack Head who's now legally disabled who I have an issue with.....
Voice on cellular phones for each and every person in the United States is given to you at a loss by your carrier.
All money made in cellular now is made from data.
Land lines are going buh bye, and as such, poor people who enjoyed free home phones for emergency needs and job interviews will be getting free cell phones. They'll be old phones that are sitting gathering dust, on a network that is already built, and using something thats already given to every customer in the United States today, free voice.
Let me let you in on a secret.....
You have no idea what you are talking about. You may have worked in a retail cellphone store for a few months and think you are an expert, but this is not the case.
For one, land lines are not going anywhere. As a matter of fact, there is a large initiative going on to replace out all the copper lines with new wiring, and a lot of it even being upgraded to fiber optics.
Also, cell phones even use POTS lines to connect calls via a central Office switch.
Last reports show that only 19% of cellphone owners have a smartphone and only 23% have any type of data plan.
with the current data showing this, companies are not banking on their customers paying for data plans, when so few are currently using them.
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