General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsIf you need food stamps, you can't afford a cell phone....well then
Exactly this......
flor-de-jasmim
(2,125 posts)If you can't afford a cell phone, then the prices should come down!
democratisphere
(17,235 posts)to the wealthiest, you can't afford the tax cut. Duh.
Aussie105
(5,432 posts)if you are on food stamps, you need a phone more than ever. For networking, applying for jobs, for emotional support on social media.
The rest of us? Phones are just toys we could live without.
Seen the same thing with refugees though. They have cell phones? Can't be REAL refugees!
procon
(15,805 posts)Food is obvious, and a cell phone is no less needful. For those who have little to nothing, a cell phone is a safety line in the event of a health crisis or other emergency. It's the only way to communicate, access public services, manage their money and bills, find charity outreach programs and other community aid.
It's not a one or the other option in the world we live in. The US is not some impoverished, underdeveloped 3rd world country where citizens subsist in a hardscrabble agrarian lifestyle. Our minimum standard of living requires certain basics just to survive.
Farmer-Rick
(10,207 posts)When RepubliCONS say the poor shouldn't get cell phones they are thinking of the hugely expensive luxury phone they always get. They are talking about the $150.00 a month ($1,800.00 a year) phone plans and overpriced fancy $800 phones.
You can get a $10 to $20 smart phone through Tracfone and an $6.67 a month plan ($80 a year). I get Tracfone because I'm cheap. My son tells me my cell phone plan is similar to what drug dealers and mobsters use. But hay I'm all for paying less.
MicaelS
(8,747 posts)You can get a free Lifeline phone which has unlimited texting, 300 minutes of talk time, and 1GB of data through SAFELINK.
Archae
(46,345 posts)Free.
I keep it for emergencies if the power goes out.
modrepub
(3,502 posts)If youre on food stamps how can you afford a $900 hand gun or rifle. And dont tell this isnt common out in the hinterlands of America because Ive seen this myself.
niyad
(113,552 posts)cell phones. get a clue, pukes.
Grasswire2
(13,571 posts)It's true.
Now, the RW calls them "obama phones"
But the program began with Reagan.
The Lifeline program is a legacy President Reagan could be proud of." Congress first enacted the Lifeline program in 1985, and the FCC expanded the program to cover cellphone service in 2005 during the George W. Bush administration. The program pays for phone service, not the phones themselves.
WhiskeyGrinder
(22,431 posts)being on SNAP.
mucifer
(23,565 posts)That's just my experience being a home hospice nurse with lots of low income families. It's not a scientific study tho.
ProudLib72
(17,984 posts)to stay afloat, you shouldn't be a political party.