Email: Obama Phones...This Is Not A Joke
The following email has been widely forwarded and has been reposted numerous times on conservative blogs. Media Matters Action Network has written a response to the text below. Please feel free to copy and paste it and send to your friends.
"Obama Phones...This Is Not A Joke"
[note - all mistakes below are original to the text]
From: XXXXX@cox.net
Subject: Obama phones.... This is not a Joke,
To: Undisclosed-Recipient@yahoo.com
Date: Monday, October 26, 2009, 5:05 PM----- Original Message -----
Sent: Sunday, October 25, 2009 12:10 AM
Subject: Obama phones.... This is not a Joke,
Trillion dollar+ budget deficit for the fiscal year 2009 and the money keeps flowing! Must be more income redistribution!
I couldn't believe this, so I went to the web site and learned that about half of the states offer these Obama phones.
I had a former employee call me earlier today inquiring about a job, and at the end of the conversation he gave me his phone number. I asked the former employee if this was a new cell phone number and he told me yes this was his "Obama phone." I asked him what an "Obama phone" was and he went on to say that welfare recipients are now eligible to receive (1) a FREE new phone and (2) approx 70 minutes of FREE minutes every month. I was a little skeptical so I Googled it and low and behold he was telling the truth. TAX PAYER MONEY IS BEING REDISTRIBUTED TO WELFARE RECIPIENTS FOR FREE CELL PHONES. This program was started earlier this year. Enough is enough. The very foundations that this country was built on are being shaken. The age old concepts of God, family, and hard work have flown out the window. You can click on the link below to read more about the "Obama phone"...just have a barf bag ready.
Click below!!!!
Response
Hey - thanks for sending this to me. I know that, like me, you must be frustrated with the massive amount of flat out lies that are sent around on the internet.
This email is a good example of something good that has been twisted to look like something bad.
I found a news article (not a blog or an email) that says this phone program - called Lifeline - was started in 1984 (when Reagan was president) and is used to provide phones to very, very low income families.
More recently, the phones were given to people who survived Hurricane Katrina and the 9/11 attacks.
You can read that article here: http://www.reuters.com/article/pressRelease/idUS180932+04-Aug-2009+BW20090804
Think about all the things you use your phone for. Yes, there's probably a significant amount of unnecessary usage - but what about the things that make life easier and safer? Like talking to your child's school or daycare - or calling the police or an ambulance! What would you do if you lost your job and couldn't afford a phone and someone in your family got sick or hurt and you couldn't call 911?
That's what these phones are for.
And this isn't a program that provides this service indefinitely. Another news article said - "The SafeLink Wireless service will provide eligible low-income households a free cell phone, mobile access to emergency services and free 60 minutes of airtime, monthly, for one year." That whole article is here: http://www.examiner.com/p-410065~TracFone_Wireless_Launches_SafeLink_Wireless_R__to_Aid_1_094_331_Low_Income_Households_in_Illinois.html
It's understandable that the thought of another government program associated with welfare beneficiaries would be worrisome. But this is clearly a program that has helped millions of people over the past 20 years and is in no way the "Obama phone."
Hopefully this clears things up a little bit.
