A short EBT/Lone Star card rant

[Slowplay]

Yeah, what chaps my tush is when I am in line at aforementioned Large Chain Store, and the person in front of me, and their kids, all have iPhones. And then they pay for the full grocery cart with the Lone Star Card.
I try to salve my growing anger with the thought that maybe their parents provided for the $250+ in mobile phone per month mobile phone charges so they can call them.
Yah, right

I was just calming down.

You may have paid for their iphones too....didn't Obama start a program to provide cell phones to those on welfare? That's what they do in the UK....provide free cell phones and free transportation. During the recent riots many of the rioters coordinated their attacks over their government provided cell phones and moved from place to place free on public transport.

Actually, it started under Bush Jr.

ETA: I assume you are talking about safelink.

Funny - I was just talking about this w/ a buddy at lunch (who has worked in telecom for decades). You are correct that the safelink phone deal didn't "start" under Obama, but it's tied to the Lifeline program and Universal Service Fund.

While Safelink might have started during Bush, the underlying funding for it and other low-income "free" or discounted phones goes back to at least Clinton (look into the Telecommunications Act of '96 and the FCC establishing the Universal Service Fund to, among other things, provide telecom service to low income consumers).

The left-leaning, "fact checking" websites work to debunk the "Obama-phone myth," but don't really discuss how the funding for these low-income phone programs have greatly increased under Obama (just like other means-based programs) and the underlying programs go back before W.

[pbwalker]

...the funding for these low-income phone programs have greatly increased under Obama...

(I've seen the information about Food Stamp usage going up...I hadn't seen any reports on the phone programs. Do you have a link or something? I could use the information. Thx)

[Slowplay]

...the funding for these low-income phone programs have greatly increased under Obama...

(I've seen the information about Food Stamp usage going up...I hadn't seen any reports on the phone programs. Do you have a link or something? I could use the information. Thx)

I don't have time to dig into outlays for these programs right now (and can't remember where I saw the exact numbers), but it only makes sense that they've greatly increased since 2008. There are more providers now than just Safelink (Assurance wireless & Reachout wireless are a couple others) and the FCC approved reform and modernization of lifeline in January 2012:

Highlights of FCC's Lifeline reforms:
Changes to eliminate waste, fraud, and abuse, saving up to $2 billion over 3 years
•Setting a savings target of $200 million for 2012, and putting the Commission in a position to adopt an appropriate budget for the program in early 2013 after review of a six-month report and one-year report on the effects of the Order.
•Creation of a National Lifeline Accountability Database to prevent multiple carriers from receiving support for the same subscriber. The database will build on FCC efforts in 2011 that eliminated nearly 270,000 duplicate subscriptions in 12 states following review of over 3.6 million subscriber records, saving $33 million.
•Creation of eligibility databases from governmental data sources, enabling fully automated verification of consumers’ initial and ongoing Lifeline eligibility. This would reduce the potential for fraud while cutting red tape for consumers and providers. A database based on the three most common federal benefit programs through which consumers qualify for Lifeline will be created no later than the end of 2013.
•Establishing a one-per-household rule applicable to all providers in the program, defining household as an “economic unit” so that separate low-income families living at the same address can get connected.

http://www.fcc.gov/encyclopedia/lifelin ... -consumers" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

You could look up outlays related to the Universal Service Fund programs, if you have time (I didn't find the info based on a quick look - too many offers to get me signed up for a phone muddied my search results).

[mamabearCali]

i hate to say it but i actually know somebody who has one and she shops @ wholefoods and buys all organic food and vegetables only! nothing we can do!

Well at least we are paying for stuff that might actually keep her healthy. As a person that buys as many whole foods as possible often it is cheaper in the end but more kitchen work to do so. So you never know maybe we are getting of easy on this one.

[aaangel]

i hate to say it but i actually know somebody who has one and she shops @ wholefoods and buys all organic food and vegetables only! nothing we can do!

Well at least we are paying for stuff that might actually keep her healthy. As a person that buys as many whole foods as possible often it is cheaper in the end but more kitchen work to do so. So you never know maybe we are getting of easy on this one.

like i said i "personally" know her and no she doesn't eat healthy!!! i guess i'm just jealous cause i can't afford to shop @ wholefoods.

[flb_78]

How about buying lobster and porterhouses on a EBT card?

http://urbanlegends.about.com/od/govern ... eceipt.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[mamabearCali]

like i said i "personally" know her and no she doesn't eat healthy!!! i guess i'm just jealous cause i can't afford to shop @ wholefoods.

I have a few select items I buy at the Heath food store, too rich for my blood most of the time too. That's alright. Wash your veggies, stick to things on the outer loop (vegges, meat, dairy) and you'll be okay most of the time.

[urnoodle]

I got this from my mother. Maybe if I filed my return this way, I would have actually got some money back for once. Anyhow I think it's funny.

Yesterday the IRS sent me back my tax return for corrections. I guess it was because of my response to the line which read "List All Dependents". So I itemized my dependents;
12,000,000 illegal immigrants
3,000,000 crack heads
42,000,000 unemployable people on food stamps
2,000,000 in over 243 prisons
535 fools in the U.S. House and Senate
Apparently this was NOT acceptable, so I sent it back to the IRS with the question, "Did I forget someone?"