Free phone from government

reply to post by NotThat


obviously it is based on a financial threshold...how is a person going to get a job without a phone?

I think it is good that a phone is provided for people who maybe struggling.

Centrelink in AU were giving away really cheap pcs for kids and people on welfare to help them...

why is everyone so paranoid?

reply to post by Thurisaz


Maybe cause I'm in lack of sleep haha!!!

Ok, first off, those 1 dollar phones cost more than a dollar a month to have...mine is about 6 dollars because i still have to pay applicable FCC taxes and taxes from the carrier and blah blah blah..so its not really a dollar.

2nd, I pay taxes like most everybody else, but understand, this would be the only thing I qualify for under my income..I DO NOT qualify for public assistance or food stamps...im afraid im not dirt poor enough as it would seem to get those free gimmes.

3rd, a free phone is much better than forkin over 200. + dollars for something that only cost 20 bucks to make in the first place so i wont loose sleep at night and neither should you. Communication is important for families this day and age and that is what it was intended for. BTW I dont have the net or apps on this phone, just calls and text...thats all the program allows. If you want more you have to pay for it.

4th, The gov cannot obtain any info directly from the provider, they have to get a warrant like everybody else. It would be easier for them to glean any info from your phone with wireless intercept devices like phony call towers than it would for them to go through a court process anyway.

5th, Im not a couch potato, i work my ass off as does my spouse. Problem is we are middle-middle class. Which means we can barely make enough to stay afloat, but we make too much to qualify for any welfare related programs. You literally have to be near homeless or in a rural area where i live to get it. Or you have to be a lazy fat white chick with 43 kids from 9 different daddies all of the hip hop persuasion to get the states teet to suck on for your 5 year vacation. So do not assume that you can throw everyone in the same bucket and call it a day. Its a little more socially complicated than that.

I pay my bills, I pay my taxes, Im not on welfare, and I work for a living....what more do you want? I use a program designed to make family communication better......mostly because im not a sucker whos gonna normally pay 200 bucks for a cheap chinese piece of crap...or get butt rumped by a local communication company who likes to monopolize the area and charge you up the anus just for a service that should be more reasonable. So yea....gots me my dollar phone.....sue me....

By the way,

A challenge to most of you in the US,

Fill out a food stamp application 3 fold, the only info you change on each app is the race of the individual appliing.

I tried this up here, and Im not kidding, the application with the caucasian box checked....came back denied. If it was a minority box checked it got approved....same info, same income numbers, hell even used the same name.

So yea.....I got me a free phone......its the only thing that whitey in AK can get apparently.....

reply to post by BooKrackers


you should write a thread about that!!

that is worth a separate discussion.

Besides the opportunity to spy on those who receive these phones, another reason they may be doing it is to take away excuses from those who simply don't want to work.

I personally know people who deliberately pretend to welfare agencies that they don't own a phone because they can't afford one. They know if they are uncontactable, they can't be "harrassed" by people trying to help them find employment.

So to those who are screaming about their wasted taxpayer money, how would you like these people to continue to have a excellent excuse to avoid working?

If these people continue to avoid employment, these phones are actually an ideal way to expose them and take away their excuses.

Thread along the same lines

Rent money and Judge Judy video thread here

Video is funny, or scary, depending on your point of view.