Goverment Phones

Earlier today I received an email from a family member. An angry claim that welfare recipients were bragging about their free "Obama Cell Phone.

This is the text of the email...

The Obama Phone - NO JOKE This is unbelievable !!
Just when you think you've heard it all, our illustrious Congress quietly comes up with a new zinger to put their hands in your pockets, and pick them while you aren't watching. Isn't this just wonderful ?
I was standing in line at the checkout counter at Wal Mart and as I looked at the line behind me, I saw a couple of people talking about what looked like identical new cell phones, bragging about the fact that their phones were free and so was the airtime.
The woman in line behind me had heard the same exchange and turned to the young man behind her and asked, 'Is that a new type of cell phone?' The young man replied, 'Yes, this is my new Obama phone. She asked him what an Obama phone was, and he went on to say that, 'Welfare recipients are now eligible to receive what he described as (1) a FREE new cell phone, and (2) approximately 250 FREE minutes of air time every month.'
Needless to say, I was a little skeptical about his answer, so when I got back home, I Googled it, and lo and behold, he was telling the truth. This was what I discovered:
SafeLink Wireless is a government supported program that provides a free cell phone and airtime each month for income-eligible customers. In other words, your tax dollars are being distributed to a wireless phone provider to provide welfare recipients with free cell phones and airtime. I don't know about you, but as for me, enough is enough. We are $14 Trillion in debt, Congress is balking at continuing unemployment payments to those who want to work, and Congress is increasing the dole-out to dead beats.
The ship of State is sinking, and it's sinking fast. The old concept of getting ahead through hard work has flown out the window. It has been replaced by Obama's and Congress' idea of Hope and Change. The country has changed all right, changed to "Why should I work for it, when I can get it for free?"
You can click on the link below to confirm for yourself that the Obama Phone is real. Just have a barf bag ready.

The email included a link that I was reluctant to visit, but sure enough.
It is real.
https://www.safelinkwireless.com/Safelink/home
The main page proclaims

"The Free Cell Phone & Minutes Program"

and

"You may qualify if you participate in programs such as Food Stamps or Medicaid."

From there you can enter a zip code and apply, there are even promotional codes.

From there I decided to check it out on Snopes, see following link.
http://www.snopes.com/politics/taxes/cellphone.asp
Here they say that the program is for real, and started in Tennessee in 2008, before President Obama took office.  So this gifts from tax payer contributions are not fairly attributed. This is simply another way that the government behemoth spreads wealth.

People are quick to blame our current President for such programs because it fits his anti-business, anti-taxpayer  modus operendi.  That it was installed during the Bush administration should alert readers that these kind of programs are continuously being germinated an a government built to expand, never to contract. 
At the moment more people are coming to the conclusion that government needs to contract, both in head-count and expenditure. Yet in the Congressional and Executive politicians that dare not go farther than right of center, are continually struggling with trying to pay for an inertial appetite.
Time to starve the patient.

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