One more welfare queen taken down

Well, I never said that you blamed it on Obama, only an idiot would do that since it is a program started by Reagan and made cell phone by Bush2 , and I certainly don't consider you an idiot. (If I did , like I do Jobe and Crusader, I would just put you on block). However, it does seem that Obama's administration is making some effort to curtail fraud in the program, which I would think we all should be happy about.

I also said earlier, that while I do see some merit in this program, I would just as soon it be ended.

MY POINT IS , as is demonstrated by this thread we are now on; I started this thread about the Obama admin catching a large company , the Scooter Store, running a sham that has cost us about $100M (that we know of).  My last post was of government give-a-ways to large corporations amounting to billions of wasted tax dollars, yet, this one little thing about cell phones  seems to stick in the craw of a lot of people as evidence that it has received so many post, and I am kinda amazed that none of you seem to give a damm about all the corporate welfare that is what is reallly soaking our wealth, but worry to obsession about people getting some limited amt of free phone service.  If it is not a result of being able to point to someone who you don't think deserves to get that service instead of the more abstract concept of being ripped off by large corporations, then , yes, I stand by my last post.

Capt. if you don't blame Obama then no one is talking to you when they point out that it is not his program. However, you have to admit that the program is now referred to as "obamaphones" by many here on the forum. I, like Seeweed, think there has to be some other driving force behind that kind of intentional ignorance. I am not against the program at all. I want those that live in poverty to have access to emergency help and a means of finding a job. I have no problem paying the 2.50 a month. This fee is passed on to us by the phone companies not the government.

I was not addressing you when I made the comment about Obama not adding to this program.

The Scooter Store is no different than AT&T or Verizon when it comes to these programs.  The government is not giving the Scooter Store millions of dollars to provide these scooters.  The Scooter Store is taking advantage of the system (fraudulently) just like folks are taking advantage of the phone program.

You seem to be trying to link or compare this Scooter Store scandal with government subsidies (like farm and oil subsidies), which are LEGAL programs that OUR politicians on both side of the aisle have pushed for.  You are comparing ILLEGAL, FRAUDULENT actions of the Scooter Store to LEGAL (although I dont care for them) subsidy programs.

The Scooter Store scandal is no different than the fraudulent use of the cell phones.  Fraud is Fraud - if you are going to 'look over' one form, might as well quit looking at all.....

Tell me, was the fee created by the phone company or the government?  Did the phone companies come up with this plan or did the government?

Now, tell me, how do you feel about paying the corner Shell station $.25 more a gallon for gas so that Shell can issue gas cards for folks that are in need?  You would be ok with that just because the government came up with a program and forced Shell to collect the fee?

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Not even apples and oranges, more like apples and pickup trucks.

If you look back, my comments were about us being on the subject of government waste and adding this program to the list of the wasteful programs, including the fraudulent use.   You and others went down the political road of 'who is worse at scamming the system' and then started in about people picking on those poor folks that need the phones (not to mention implying that those that do are racist).

And yes, it is apples to apples.  The government implemented the program to add a charge to your phone bill (think 'add a charge to your fuel bill') to subsidize phone bills for people who cant afford a phone (think 'subsidize fuel bills for people who cant afford the price of gas').  Same exact concept and thought.   Tell me how that is not apples to apples? 

Matter of fact, lets take it a little further with another apples to apples for you -

What do you think about the state of Alabama forcing the utilities companies to add a 'lifeline' charge to your electric bill so that they can use that charge to help subsidize the electric bills of folks that cant afford to pay for their electricity every month?

You see, with this phone program, all that is happening is the phone companies are taking money from people that pay their phone bill to give it to people who cant afford to pay for a phone.  All at the direction of the government.  

One more time--- I stated that I did not like the program and for my part could be done away with.

I don't like adding some fee to my power bill to pay for people who can't or won't pay theirs.

NEVER SAID I LIKED IT !!!!  There is no need to continue to beat that horse. "They" ain't gonna change it, so once again, WE SHOULD BE HAPPY THE CURRENT BUNCH UP THERE IS GOING AFTER THOSE DEFRAUDING THIS SYSTEM.

Once again , my original point is about cracking down on corporate fraud. happens they are also going after  fraud by people and that is ok with me, but again, you seem to be sweating the little stuff, and (correct me if I am wrong) , haven't made much, if any comment about going after the big corporations that are sucking us dry.

The dead horse got beat because you said the comparison to collecting a fee from gas stations to cross subsidize fuel was apples to trucks, which it clearly was not.

No, i didnt have much to add about the issues with the Scooter Store because i didnt disagree with your post, i added another 'welfare' program to it to further demonstrate your point of fraud within the system, which WAS the intended topic of the thread, correct?

And as i also mentioned - most of the big corporations are bleeding us dry legally - thats a subject entirely separate from medicare fraud......