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SafeLink Wireless is a government supported program that provides a free cell phone and airtime each month for income-eligible customers.Eligibility requirements:
How to QualifyWhat next? Plasma TVs and hot tubs?
The process to qualify for Lifeline Service depends on the State you live in. In general, you may qualify if...In addition to meeting the guidelines above you will also be required to provide proof of your participation in an assistance program, or proof of your income level.
- You already participate in other State or Federal assistance program such as Federal Public Housing Assistance, Food Stamps and Medicaid.
OR- Your total household income is at or below 135% of the poverty guidelines set by your State and/or the Federal Government.
AND- No one in your household currently receives Lifeline Service through another phone carrier.
- You have a valid United States Postal Address. In order for us to ship you your free phone you must live at a residence that can receive mail from the US Post Office. Sorry, but P.O. Boxes cannot be accepted.
UPDATE: Cellphone service is a right:
"Having a telephone service, just in general, is not a privilege, it should be a right of each one," said TracFone spokesman Jose Fuentes. "Everyone should be in contact, everybody should have the opportunity to get a phone call, especially if it's an employer."And don't you just know these people -- who rely on government for their food, housing and medical care -- are burning up the minutes on their government-provided cellphones trying to get a job. Maybe they can get jobs as community organizers?
UPDATE II: Gee, handing out taxpayer-funded "free" cellphones to 1 million people in the key swing state of Florida. Want to guess how many of these "low-income" people are actually college students working as Obama campaign volunteers? I'm going to guess it's not zero.
Plasma TVs for the poor? That was so 2007.
ReplyDeleteHell ... health care is a right, according to Obama (though he quickly backed off in that very same breath from what that would mean). So why NOT cell phones?
ReplyDeleteFeel the fairness!
ReplyDeleteFeel the social justice!
Feel the tiny amount of Change remaining in your pocket, because, after debasing the currency, it was no longer cost-effective to take that, too!
Can I get an eh, men?
These are lifeline phones with 60 minutes a month. Since I lost my insurance and job due to cancer, I am very grateful I got one. You should all be ashamed for being so heartless and so unfeeling. I hope you are have the oppurtunity to experience the generocity I have received since losing everything to an illness.
ReplyDeleteI am a parish nurse for my church. We have parishioners who live alone that are shut-ins with no emergency back-up if their phone lines go down (which it did last night)They are low income and cannot afford the luxury cell phone plans nor are they savvy enough to navigate the system without help nor do they have internet. I have gone on-line to register one elderly gentleman for the program last week and am concerned because of the outage last night. There is no way other than driving to his house to communicate with him right now. His free phone cannot get to him fast enough. As far as the comment about Obama college students getting them, most would not qualify and if they did, they would want fancier phones than the basic ones in this program. Before you are quick to judge, go to the site and put in your state's zipcode and see the qualifications for the program.
ReplyDeleteI think we as Americans need to accept a simple truth. If you don't have the money, you can't buy it. If you don't have a way to buy a cell phone, you shouldn't get one. It should be about being rewarded for good decisions and intelligence, not bad decisions and stupidity.
ReplyDeleteneed to talk to somebody try a stamp and a letter. need to e-mail someone there are free computers at the library... do the people who are FOR this have working computers at home and satellite/ cable TV?
ReplyDeleteThis program actually started in 1984 with landline phones. Only in September, 2008 did this program stretch to cell phones. If you want the program to disappear, start putting pay phones back on every streetcorner so people who don't have a phone have access to one. The town I live in has eliminated pay phones. So, if you want a job, you won't have a phone number to put on your resume. Tell me, exactly how many employers are going to contact you via snail mail for a job? None that I know of. If these phones were handed out as high end phones with unlimited minutes, yeah, I'd have a problem with it. But they're not. They are bare bones phones with 60-68 minutes A MONTH on them. If you want more minutes, you have to purchase them. Sounds like a good plan to me. We could pay for it easily if the Bureau of Land Management would stop spending $700 million a year to corral and feed wild horses. Go after the real waste in government. Not the programs that actually help people!
ReplyDeleteThis is stupid. I am annoyed at the fact that I have to pay for people who don't want to get a job or go to school to find a job to have a cellphone. They need to stop being so lazy and get a job and live off of their OWN money. Not mine and everyone else's. Many colleges have financial aid where if you qualify you pay close to nothing to attend. I am irritated that there are some people working their ass off trying to make a living while others are doing NOTHING with their lives and just mooching off the government.
ReplyDeletehere's an idea - how about the people that WANT to help these people pay their cellphone bills can, and those who don't care don't have to! THANKSSSSSSS!!!! =)
ReplyDeleteI AM A GRANDMOTHER THAT HAS LOST HER JOB TO NO FAULT OF MY OWN. I HAVE MANY HEALTH PROBLEMS BUT I STILL EVEN SICK WENT TO WORK AND PAID MY BILLS.NOW THAT I HAD TO USE ALL OF MY SAVINGS AND EVEN HAD TO CASH IN MY 401K TO KEEP LIVING I STILL TRY TO DO WHAT I CAN NOT TO TAKE FROM MY COUNTY BUT NOW THEY HAVE PUT ME ON DISABILITY AND I CAN'T MAKE ENDS MEET I HAVE WORKED EVER SINCE I WAS FOURTEEN AND YOU HAVE THE NERVE TO TELL ME TO GET UP AND DO MORE AND TRY TO MAKE ME FEEL BAD TO ASK FOR HELP.I DON'T HAVE ONE OF THESE PHONES YET BUT YOU MAKE ME FEEL LIKE CRAP FOR EVEN THINKING ABOUT IT.NO ONE SHOULD HAVE TO FELL THIS WAY.
ReplyDeleteIt really bothers a lot of people that some people can express that they have to pay for people who don't get a job or go to school.And that (they are lazy and not get a job and live off the government.)Well for one they were never born with silver spoons in there mouths like some are who post comments on here.And two it's not your money the government lends it to you to spend just try and stop paying your taxes on your house once and see how fast (your hard working your ass off) tax paying dollars go along with your automobile as an asset and penalty fines then maybe you will be able to get a free cell phone or go to your colleges with financial aid. So the people who are getting or already have a free cell congrads.Oh and this is for anonymous on (Mon Nov 09,11:25:00 pm)you are not at the top of the food chain to set there and downgrade people BE NICE try it once in your hateful life.Have a nice day everyone
ReplyDeleteWell I believe that it is ashame that OBAMA is wanting to cut back on home health care and the patients insurances, this pepole are the ones that really need the help but never complains about anything, some has no phone to call any body and no way to comunicate. But is alright to spend millions of dollars for someone that can get out off there sorry butts and get a job. There are such things as a home phone that is a lot cheaper but no they want to spend more money and take away from ealderlys. me personaly if I couldn't aford a cell phone then I won't have one. OBAMA and people that are letting this happen should be ashamed of what they are doing.
ReplyDelete