Nearly 50 congressional members have signed on to legislation that would put a stop to the government’s free phone program, known loosely as “Obama-phone.”
The program is formally called Lifeline and started under the Ronald Reagan administration as a means of providing landline phone service to poor people in case of emergency. It’s grown to the point the Federal Communications Commission under President Obama now admits it’s rife with waste and fraud.
The Wall Street Journal recently reported that 41 percent of the program’s 6 million participants couldn’t provide requested information that proved their eligibility.
Under Mr. Obama, the phone service has expanded to include high-tech, top-of-the-line smart phones, complete with cameras and 100 free minutes of use per month. Lawmakers are hoping to put a stop to what they’re terming a “boondoggle” of a program, reported Sunshine State News.
“It defies common sense that we are giving away millions of free cell phones at the same time the Federal Aviation Administration imposes cutbacks that are delaying flights across the nation,” said Rep. Vern Buchanan, the latest of congressional members to sponsor a bill to end the program, Sunshine State News reported.
The bill is called the Stop Taxpayer Funded Cell Phones Act.
“The federal government is not an unlimited plan,” he said, in Sunshine State News. “[This bill] is a step in the right direction to show the American people that Congress is serious about rooting out the waste, fraud and abuse in the federal government. It’s time to disconnect this boondoggle.”
• Cheryl K. Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com.
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