Thread: Video shows workers offering 'Obamaphones' to those vowing to sell them -- for drugs

Published June 18, 2013FoxNews.com

• 
  Shown here is an image, from a video released by Project Veritas, of a Philadelphia location for Stand Up Wireless. (Project Veritas)
  

A Republican senator renewed his criticism of a government-backed program that hands out cell phones after an undercover video showed vendors helping people obtain the phones even after saying they wanted to sell them for drugs and other items.
The video was released by conservative activist James O'Keefe and his group Project Veritas. It claimed to show undercover investigators visiting Philadelphia locations for phone vendor Stand Up Wireless and locations for one other company.
In one exchange, the investigator -- posing as someone who wants a free phone -- asks if the phone will belong to him after he gets it.
"Whatever you want to do with it," the worker says.
The investigator floats the possibility of getting "money for heroin." The employee responds: "Hey, I don't judge."
Global Connection Inc. of America, the parent company for Stand Up Wireless, has already taken disciplinary action against the employees in question.
"Any employee involved has already been terminated," CEO Dave Skogen told FoxNews.com.
But Sen. David Vitter, R-La., who has long been critical of the phone hand-out program -- which was dubbed the "Obamaphone" during the 2012 campaign -- slammed the initiative in light of the video.
"The free government cell phones issue just keeps getting more outrageous," Vitter said in a statement. "This phone program has expanded far beyond its original intent, and having Washington force people to pay for free cell phones for others is offensive enough, but the waste, fraud and abuse is beyond words."
Vitter has previously, and unsuccessfully, pushed legislation to strip funding for cell phones under the Lifeline program. He wants the program to focus only on landline services.
The 22-minute Project Veritas video showed undercover activists going to several locations and asking about the phones. It's unclear how many locations they ultimately visited before recording the exchanges shown in the video.
In one exchange, which apparently happened in May, a Stand Up Wireless vendor told the activist that the phone would belong to him if he got it.
The activist then asked the worker about the phone's value. The worker recommended going to "any pawn shop. They'll be more than happy to tell you."
"So I could get the phone and then sell it?" he said.
"Yeah -- I don't care what you do with it," the worker replied.
Stand Up Wireless issued a written statement late Tuesday saying the workers in the video were shown "falling short of company standards."
"In response, all team members involved have been disciplined and three have been terminated. All customer-facing team members are receiving additional training. It is not company policy, nor is it beneficial for the company in any way, for our customers to sell their phones," the statement said. "Stand Up Wireless has been and continues to be a law abiding company that operates consistently with all rules and laws in a highly regulated industry."
The Lifeline program was originally launched under the Reagan administration to help poor people have access to phones for emergencies, job searches and other vital communications. The program is funded by charges that appear on the monthly bills of every phone customer in the country.
The cost of the program, though, has tripled to $2.2 billion in 2012 from $819 million in 2008, when cell phones were added. The risk of abuse has also risen.
Only low-income people on welfare and food stamps legally qualify, but some lawmakers say the program is out of control.
Sen. Claire McCaskill, a Democrat from Missouri, was incensed when she got an offer for a free phone. She said earlier this year that the solicitation was a sign that money was "being wasted here."
The FCC has defended the program as important for helping tens of millions of low-income Americans afford basic phone options. But even they admit the program has holes. Last year the agency tightened the rules for the program and required carriers to verify existing members were eligible. The FCC also said its new rules have eliminated more than 1.1 million duplicate subscriptions and saved $214 million in 2012.




http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013...#ixzz2Wboq4OhN

OBAMAPHONE COMPANY LAUNCHES AD CAMPAIGN TO COMBAT NEGATIVE IMAGE



by MATTHEW BOYLE
22 Jul 2013,

Popular opposition to the “Lifeline” program, colloquially known since last year as the “Obamaphone” program, appears to be growing. Tracfone Wireless, the company that most benefits from the government subsidy, is now advertising on inside-the-beltway news websites in an effort to save it.

“Obamaphone? Obamaphone?” a flashing banner ad running interchangeably with other ads at the top of Politico’s website reads. “Think again. Lifeline. Created by Reagan.”

“Impact on the deficit? Zero,” another flashing slide argues.
The banner ad takes those who click on it to LifelineFacts.com, an advertising website run by TracFone. “TracFone has worked together with the FCC to adopt tough new reforms to protect the integrity of the Lifeline program,” the bottom of the website reads. “We support ongoing efforts to minimize fraud and ensure that benefits only go to those who qualify and truly need the assistance.”

The Lifeline program was started by Ronald Reagan in the 1980’s but has since grown exponentially. In 2008, it was expanded to allow benefit recipients to use the subsidy for wireless cell phones. During the last election cycle, Drudge Report popularized the term “Obamaphone” after Obama campaign supporters published online videos in which they praised Obama for giving them free cell phones, paid for by U.S. taxpayers.
Rep. Tim Griffin (R-AR) has launched an effort to repeal the “Obamaphone” program with specific pieces of legislation. “I've heard from many Arkansans about one wasteful Washington program that's riddled with instances of abuse,” Griffin said on a special part of his congressional website devoted to ending the expansion of the program and return it to its original intent under Reagan.

It's a government-run, taxpayer-funded program that's running wild and costing more and more. The evidence is stacking up: dead people are receiving free cell phones in the mail, eligible and ineligible individuals are obtaining more than one, and electronic kiosks have been stationed in convenience stores to spread the word about this "free" opportunity. The truth is, though, that taxpayers are footing the bill. The program is called Lifeline, but in reality it's turned into Uncle Sam's Unlimited Plan. My bill returns the Lifeline program back to its original structure by ending federal subsidies for free cell phone services. This growing government cell phone program is costing American consumers and taxpayers, and my bill puts an end to it.

TracFone’s LifelineFacts.com argues that since George W. Bush’s Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approved the wireless cellular expansion of the lifeline program in 2008, further expansion under Obama is acceptable. “Lifeline wireless service has been around for a number of years, dating back to President George W. Bush’s Administration, not President Obama’s,” TracFone’s LifelineFacts.com reads.

In 2008, the FCC approved the first free wireless Lifeline. The FCC’s decision to allow Lifeline to offer a free wireless option was an important recognition of the central role that the cell phone plays in modern day life in America. A growing number of households are giving up their landlines and moving entirely into wireless service. This trend is likely to be more prevalent in low-income communities. Wireless phone service provides users with greater flexibility to stay connected to their communities.

TracFone is making millions per year off the government subsidy. “Tracfone now has more than has more than 4 million subscribers in its Lifeline program, called SafeLink, and collected $452 million last year from the program's subsidies,” Jordan Malter wrote on Oct. 26, 2012 for CNN Money. “That's twice what it took in two years ago, and far more than any other provider. (The runners-up, AT&T and Sprint each collected around $274 million.)”

Griffin continues to garner more and more cosponsors for his bill to scale back the program’s wireless expansion, with Reps. Jim Bridenstine (R-OK) and Richard Hudson (R-NC) signing on last week to bring the total number of cosponsors up to 60.

http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Governm...o-save-program


FYI

Carlos Slim, world’s richest man, gets richer supplying ‘Obamaphones’ to poor

Posted: Oct 11, 2012

A Mexican telecom mogul who holds the title of world's richest man, and one of President Obama's top donors are both getting even richer from the U.S. government program that supplies so-called "Obamaphones" to the poor.

Carlos Slim, who has an estimated net worth of $70 billion, owns a controlling stake in TracFone, which makes $10 per phone for each device it provides to poor Americans. The company, whose president and CEO is Frederick "F.J." Pollak, also makes money from extra minutes and data plans it sells to subscribers who get phones and service through the government's Lifeline program. The program, which began in the mid-1980s, has exploded in the past four years after being expanded from supplying landlines to the poor to providing cellular phones.

The phones came into the national spotlight after a viral video surfaced on YouTube in which a Cleveland, Ohio, woman praised the president, saying he needed to be re-elected because he gives out free phones.

"Everybody in Cleveland, every minority, got an Obama phone. Keep Obama as president. He gave us a phone. He gonna do more," the woman said in the video.
Slim's Movil America owns TracFone and recently snapped up service provider Simple Mobile for $100 million. TracFones and Simple Mobile service are huge players in the Lifeline program through the company's "SafeLink Wireless" brand.

TracFone had 3.8 million subscribers through the federal program as of late 2011.

Pollak has donated at least $156,500 to Democratic candidates and committees this cycle, including at least $50,000 to the Obama campaign. His wife, Abigail, is a campaign bundler for Obama and has raised more than $632,000 for the president this cycle, and more than $1.5 million since 2007. She has personally contributed more than $200,000 to Democratic candidates and committees since 2008.

The Pollaks hosted Obama at their Miami Beach home in June for a $40,000-per-plate fundraising dinner, and hosted a similar event with Michelle Obama in July 2008. The couple personally donated a combined $66,200 to Obama's re-election effort that year.

U.S. Rep. Tim Griffin, (R-Ark.), who has been one of the biggest critics of the Lifeline program's explosive growth, said he can't blame Slim for doing lucrative business with the federal government.

"I'm not against a company making a profit," Griffin said. "If they are making money off the program, the blame goes to the federal government for creating the program."

Griffin recently introduced a bill on Capitol Hill to end the Lifeline program, which cost $1.6 billion in 2011, up from $772 million in 2008. While not technically a tax, the program is funded by mandatory fees tacked on to consumers' phone bills, then disbursed through the Federal Communications Commission and states.

"This program is rife with waste and abuse," Griffin said. "It's set up in a way where people can receive multiple phones for free."

Griffin said he has seen cases in which single individuals obtained dozens of the phones, and said under the lax requirements, more than 80 million Americans are eligible.

According to the FCC, "Lifeline is a government benefit program supported by the Universal Service Fund that provides a discount on phone service for qualifying low-income consumers. Lifeline helps ensure that eligible consumers have the opportunities and security that phone service brings, including being able to connect to jobs, family, and emergency services."

The FCC announced in July that new reforms saved $43 million in savings by eliminating duplicate subscriptions and outdated subsidies and claims that the agency is on track to recover $200 million for the year.

But Griffin said it's time to end a subsidy that gives the poor a luxury item and makes the world's wealthiest man richer.

"I simply do not think that the taxpayers should be footing the bill for someone's cell service and social interaction," Griffin said. "If that's the case, what should the government pay for and not pay for? Let's just start paying for everyone's gas."

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/10/10...#ixzz28zRnKiuC

http://www.myfoxdc.com/story/1979211...phones-to-poor