http://www.middletownusa.com/forum/ This is an XML content feed of; Middletown Forum : News, Info and Happenings outside Middletown : Gov. Freebie Beat Goes On Mon, 12 Oct 2026 22:41:20 +0000 Mon, 28 Nov 2011 06:43:52 +0000 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Web Wiz Forums 10.12 360 www.middletownusa.com/forum/RSS_post_feed.asp?TID=4255 http://middletownusa.com/images/blog-logo.jpg http://www.middletownusa.com/forum/ http://www.middletownusa.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=4255&PID=30885&title=gov-freebie-beat-goes-on#30885 Author: VietVet
Subject: 4255
Posted: Nov 28 2011 at 6:43am

Today's Journal...

Phone plan being abused
Federally required fee on phone bills buys phones for the poor

Companies are flooding low-income households with free cellphones and minutes under a plan overseen by the federal government that is prone to abuse, a Middletown Journal investigation has found

The program is paid for with fees mandated by the government and tacked onto most cellphone and home phone bills, often listed as the Universal Service fee

The ... program itself, which provides subsidized cellphones, has been subjected to a lot of waste, fraud and abuse,” said Tom Schatz, president of the advocacy group Citizens Against Government Waste. “People were getting multiple cellphones, they were selling them on Craigslist, so clearly people know how to take advantage of a program like this

To qualify for the program, someone must be enrolled in one of numerous federal programs — such as Medicaid, food stamps, Section 8 or free school lunch — or make below 150 percent of the federal poverty level, which is $33,525 for a family of four.

WONDER HOW MANY VIOLATORS WE HAVE IN THE SECTION 8 CAPITAL OF OHIO?

ANOTHER EXAMPLE OF SETTING UP A PROGRAM TO HELP THE ONES WHO CAN'T OR CAN (BUT WON'T) HELP THEMSELVES AND LET THE WORKING PEOPLE PAY FOR IT ALL. DOESN'T TAKE LONG FOR THEM TO FIND A LOOPHOLE IN ANY PROGRAM, DOES IT? WHEN WILL WE START HAVING FOLLOWUPS FOR MULTIPLE HOOKUPS/MULTIPLE PHONES AFTER THE PHONE (S) IS ISSUED?]]> Mon, 28 Nov 2011 06:43:52 +0000 http://www.middletownusa.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=4255&PID=30885&title=gov-freebie-beat-goes-on#30885