ObamaPhone Program Cost Spinning Out of Control

[schwartzie]

ObamaPhone Program Cost Spinning Out of Control
By Duane Lester
Published: April 23, 2013 | 0 Comments


I’ll say it once again, when you tax something, you get less of it.

When you subsidize something, you get more of it.

This is a fairly commonly known economic belief. So why are these politicians so surprised the government’s free phone program has grown out of control:

What started out as an effort by President Reagan to help poor people in rural areas have a phone in cases of emergency has mushroomed into what critics suspect is a new welfare program.

“The cost has gone from $143 million a few years ago to $2.2 billion today,” Republican Louisiana Sen. David Vitter said, noting that today’s cost is 15 times what it was.

The cost of the program increased dramatically after cellphones were added in 2008. Only low-income people on welfare and food stamps legally qualify, but some lawmakers say the program is out of control.

Sen. Claire McCaskill, a Democrat from Missouri, was incensed when she got an offer of a free phone.

“I got solicitation for a free phone at my apartment, which is certainly not a building where you’re going to have people who are qualified for free phones. … There is clearly money being wasted here.”

And Vitter adds, “The FCC, itself, said in a recent year there were 270,000 beneficiaries that had more than one of these subsidized cellphones. That’s completely against the law right there.”

Have a cell phone? You’re paying for this program then. It’s funded by a tax found right on your cell phone bill.

Unless you have a cell phone and live in Cleveland. Then you’re probably getting an Obamaphone:

Video is at the link:

www.libertynews.com/2013/04/28493/