Lies, Lies. and More Lies!

Once more we have lying liars telling lies regarding the current President and Administration. The most recent  smear campaign uses the code word “Obamaphone” to describe partially subsidized (a whopping   $9.25 off  the  monthly bill)  cell phones or landlines  for  qualified persons who apply. There have been  accusations, some accurate, regarding multiple phones per household (prohibited) and some of the phones being listed on Craigslist for sale, also obviously wrong.  To qualify for Lifeline (the real name of the program) assistance, the individual’s household income must be 135% below the national average. The household may also only use the Lifeline Assistance Program for either one wired connection or one wireless plan. A recent  attack by Arkansas Rep. Tim Griffin was claimed in his words to be an attempt at  “reforming” the program. His proposed legislation — the “Stop Taxpayer-Funded Cell Phones Act of 2011″ — actually would have eliminated the cell phone subsidy. Fact Check climbed all over Rep Griffin for implying as others are doing yet, that this program was a tax, and an Obama administration giveaway. Is anyone interested in the facts?

The first government provided cell phone came about in 2008 under the Bush administration. The very idea of government subsidized phones for low income people originated during the Reagan administration and brought about the Telecommunications Act of 1996.  Owing to the fact that people generally need phones to apply for jobs and enroll their children in school, and elderly citizens need to be able to call their families and emergency services, the government decided in the '80s (under Ronald Reagan, no less) to institute the Lifeline Assistance program. In 1996, Bill Clinton signed the Telecommunications Act into law, which offered either cell phones or landline services to low-income Americans. Telecommunication service providers are required to pay certain amounts to the federal USF(Universal Services Fund). These amounts are based on their profits and end-user revenues. These telecommunication service providers include wireless telephone companies, wire line telephone companies and specific Voice Over internet Protocol (VoIP) providers.

 Telecommunication service providers may directly charge their customers on their telephone bills for their required USF fees. Bills may have a line titled, “Universal Service”. This is the small charge that benefits Lifeline and provides low income families and individuals free government paid cell phones so they too have access to new job ventures, family connectivity and a way to contact authorities in case of emergencies. However, the FCC does not require these “Universal Service” charges to be passed on to the customer. Each company has to make a decision that will best fit their corporation.

In other words, the cost of these services were incepted as a cost to the providers, but because they were allowed to, most of them have passed a small share on to you, rather than reduce their already huge profits. Remember, they are not publically regulated utilities (especially wireless ones) and they are free to use and abuse you as they see fit, which they will, and do!  The average universal service fee passed on to consumers is between $2.50 and $3.00 monthly. Your wireless provider passes this cost on to you because they can, to maximize profits, not because they need to do it to remain solvent. It is not a tax, as many on the right imply. More importantly, it is not an Obama administration initiative.  If you're upset that Obama is giving "freeloaders" gratis cell phones paid for with your tax money, don't be.

In the first place, Obama had nothing to do with the Lifeline program: the "Obama phone" narrative is a myth that both liberals and conservatives have fallen for since 2009. Secondly, Lifeline isn't paid for with tax revenues. Rather, Lifeline is funded with a pool of money, called the Universal Service Fund, which is paid for with revenue donations from telecommunications providers, as described above. Remember, they don’t have to charge you anything, they just do!

Finally, there have been, as described earlier, charges of abuse of the system. A recent audit placed the amount of abuse at around  9 % annually, which is measurably less than the percentage of Medicare fraudulent charges perpetrated by Fl Governor Rick Scott’s health care corporation!

In January, the FCC completed an audit of 12 states’ service records and found that 7 percent of subscribers (269,000 of 3.6 million) used more than one subsidized line, costing Lifeline $35 million a year. A second audit released this month found 135,000 duplicate subscriptions in three more states, costing another $15 million. The FCC said it disconnected those phone lines, generating $50 million in savings.

 The audits are part of the FCC’s overhaul. The changes, enacted in February, include:

 ■The creation of a database to prevent one person from having more than one subsidized phone line.

 ■The creation of a database (by the end of 2013) to ensure subscribers are eligible for Lifeline.

 ■The end of the Link Up program, which gave phone companies $30 for each new subsidized connection. Link Up was originally intended to cover the cost of installing a new phone line. But it gave prepaid wireless carriers a “perverse” incentive to sign up ineligible subscribers. (Not all cell phone companies took the Link Up subsidy.)

The FCC claims the overhaul will save up to $2 billion in three years, reducing growth in the fund and “keeping money in the pockets of American consumers.” The commission fails to state whether the savings could reduce the universal service fee. The Lifeline program will use some of the savings — up to $25 million — on a pilot program to help low-income persons gain access to broadband Internet service.

The commission plans to assess its changes after six months and one year. The GAO followed up on its own assessment of Lifeline in 2012, finding that the FCC is making progress in addressing Lifeline’s vulnerabilities.

Why did I tell you all this?  I point this out because the program as incepted is a must have for many Americans, regardless of which inarticulate wretch you see in a You-tube video and because these recent integrity initiatives and reforms are the responsibility of President Obama’s administration.  The mythical Obamaphone program should be called the Reagan-Clinton-Bush-aphone! So instead of getting angry at the man for something he didn’t do, laud him for trying to fix the loopholes!