# How did it become the Obama phone? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 29, 2013, 6:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-it-become-the-obama-phone/662188 "2013-06-29T06:33:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2013, 6:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-it-become-the-obama-phone/662188/1 "2013-06-29T06:33:12Z")
I can recall seeing commercials for government provided cell phones for qualifying low income earners in the USA during Dubya’s term, the program was started in his term. How in the blue bloody hell did they become Obama phones?! Whatever genius in the GOP got that to stick needs a raise! ---
**Author:** ![DataX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@DataX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DataX)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2013, 6:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-it-become-the-obama-phone/662188/2 "2013-06-29T06:43:51Z")
Republicans really seem to like the name calling. Nobama Reid-Pelosi premium Obamacare Hillarycare Whatever The best you see out of dems are weak things like BU$H. Facts have nothing to do with it. A segment of the population really believe that Obama is giving away shit for free - look at all the ads on the Internet. There are tons of Obama loopholes that you just need to find out about. People are more likely to believe this about Obama than Bush. They would have believed it about Gore too. But being black - that doesn’t help either. ---
**Author:** ![Jragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jragon)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2013, 6:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-it-become-the-obama-phone/662188/3 "2013-06-29T06:45:11Z")
I think it’s from when [this](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tpAOwJvTOio) video went viral. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2013, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-it-become-the-obama-phone/662188/4 "2013-06-30T03:33:43Z")
Am I the only one who has never heard the term “Obama Phone”? ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2013, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-it-become-the-obama-phone/662188/5 "2013-06-30T04:02:46Z")
Cuz “Obama Phone” sounds a lot more like “[Banana Phone](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oqq6jppAYFo)” than “Bush Phone” does. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2013, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-it-become-the-obama-phone/662188/6 "2013-06-30T04:05:33Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > Am I the only one who has never heard the term “Obama Phone”? Nope. Never heard the term until this thread. Still not sure I believe it’s a “real” thing that anyone is saying. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2013, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-it-become-the-obama-phone/662188/7 "2013-06-30T04:12:20Z")
> [@grude](#): > > I can recall seeing commercials for government provided cell phones for qualifying low income earners in the USA during Dubya’s term, the program was started in his term. I think the free cell phones stem from the [Lifeline Assistance program](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_Service_Fund#Lifeline). Originally, I think, the program provided a low-cost landline, but a cell phone might be more useful to the participants (and perhaps cheaper to offer). And if that’s the source, it comes from the [Telecommunications Act of 1996](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telecommunications_Act_of_1996), signed by Bill Clinton. And I think it is a _good_ thing that people have access to phones. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2013, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-it-become-the-obama-phone/662188/8 "2013-06-30T04:23:05Z")
This program is known as the [Lifeline](http://www.fcc.gov/guides/lifeline-and-link-affordable-telephone-service-income-eligible-consumers) program and is funded by the Universal Services Fund that appears as an item on your phone bill. It provides either a landline or wireless service (but not both) to eligible low-income people. It started during the Reagan administration as a means of providing low cost landline service and was expanded to cellular service during the Clinton administration. It’s a real program. I applied to Assurance Wireless and was provided a free phone. It’s a basic phone and includes 250 free minutes and 250 free texts a month. Ninja’ed by **Dewey Finn**. ---
**Author:** ![Cub\_Mistress](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ea666f/32.png) [@Cub\_Mistress](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cub_Mistress)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2013, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-it-become-the-obama-phone/662188/9 "2013-06-30T05:17:54Z")
Most of my patients have these free phones, plus at least one they pay for. Without exception they refer to them as their Obamaphones. YMMV ---
**Author:** ![Foggy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foggy/32/1082_2.png) [@Foggy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Foggy)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2013, 7:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-it-become-the-obama-phone/662188/10 "2013-06-30T07:25:23Z")
The term has been around since at least 2009. [Snopes](http://www.snopes.com/politics/taxes/cellphone.asp) ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2013, 8:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-it-become-the-obama-phone/662188/11 "2013-06-30T08:04:23Z")
According to this article, the program began under Clinton: > **[Obama Phone: Urban Legend or Real?](https://www.freegovernmentcellphones.net/faq/obama-phone)** > > Some call the free government cell phone "The Obama Phone." But is it? We present the facts, the official word in this extensive article. The average American is supposed to remember all the way back to 1996? I’d be amazed if their horizons extend much beyond last week. And c’mon! Would you really want to talk into something called a “Bush” phone?!? :dubious: (Michael Douglas might, but still…) :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2013, 11:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-it-become-the-obama-phone/662188/12 "2013-06-30T11:10:31Z")
> [@Cub\_Mistress](#): > > Most of my patients have these free phones, plus at least one they pay for. Without exception they refer to them as their Obamaphones. YMMV ditto ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2013, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-it-become-the-obama-phone/662188/13 "2013-06-30T13:06:40Z")
> [@Cub\_Mistress](#): > > Most of my patients have these free phones, plus at least one they pay for. Without exception they refer to them as their Obamaphones. YMMV I don’t have one, but that’s what I’ve heard them called, too. And I’ve heard them promoted by people as saying that Obama would pay for you to have a phone, the same way they said Obama would help you refinance your loan. ---
**Author:** ![SpyOne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/82dd89/32.png) [@SpyOne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpyOne)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2013, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-it-become-the-obama-phone/662188/14 "2013-06-30T13:12:48Z")
I thought I read that the program started under George H.W. Bush. I know the modification to allow cell phones came under George w. Bush. The program is much abused. There are two companies that are authorized to provide cell phones under the program, but there is no cross-checking to see if someone getting a phone from one of them already has a phone from the other. There really isn’t a reason why someone would have “another (phone) they pay for”. The program gives them a prepaid phone with a certain number of minutes each month. If they want more minutes, they just buy them. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2013, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-it-become-the-obama-phone/662188/15 "2013-06-30T14:06:02Z")
> [@SpyOne](#): > > There really isn’t a reason why someone would have “another (phone) they pay for”. The program gives them a prepaid phone with a certain number of minutes each month. If they want more minutes, they just buy them. The reason is that the phone they give you is rather crap. The folks who have both have a slightly better phone\* that they pay for, until they can’t pay their phone bill on time and it gets shut off. Then they use the gov’ment phone until they can pay their regular phone bill. \*And by “slightly better”, I mean still a cheap dumb phone but with bigger buttons and easier to see screen. I have \*never \*seen the much memed “welfare recipient with a iPhone”. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2013, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-it-become-the-obama-phone/662188/16 "2013-06-30T14:51:08Z")
As it mentions briefly in the snopes article, there are many fly by night cellphone companies in the program. A lot popped up around the time of the 1st inauguration to market to the urban community. They used the term. Hard to tell who did it first but it doesn’t look like a right wing conspiracy. But it is something they capitalize on. Typical politics. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2013, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-it-become-the-obama-phone/662188/17 "2013-06-30T14:56:25Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > The reason is that the phone they give you is rather crap. The folks who have both have a slightly better phone\* that they pay for, until they can’t pay their phone bill on time and it gets shut off. Then they use the gov’ment phone until they can pay their regular phone bill. > > \*And by “slightly better”, I mean still a cheap dumb phone but with bigger buttons and easier to see screen. I have \*never \*seen the much memed “welfare recipient with a iPhone”. The program does not pay for phones. It subsidizes service. Some of the companies chose to offer free phones as part of the service. Depending on the provider you can have your own phone and just have the monthly fee subsidized. ---
**Author:** ![crucible](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5f8ce5/32.png) [@crucible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crucible)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2013, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-it-become-the-obama-phone/662188/18 "2013-06-30T17:37:27Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > As it mentions briefly in the snopes article, there are many fly by night cellphone companies in the program. A lot popped up around the time of the 1st inauguration to market to the urban community. They used the term. Hard to tell who did it first but it doesn’t look like a right wing conspiracy. But it is something they capitalize on. Typical politics. Typical Republican politics. Any port in a storm. Any combination of words or insinuations that doesn’t fall off the wall immediately. The sort of speech the first amendment was written for. their well-founded fear of their kind (male) being displaced by science, made irrelevant…is behind it all, behind the conservative urge to preserve their traditional privileges. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2013, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-it-become-the-obama-phone/662188/19 "2013-07-01T12:17:23Z")
> [@crucible](#): > > Typical Republican politics. I guess I’m more jaded than you. I just see it as typical politics. ---
**Author:** ![typoink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecb155/32.png) [@typoink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/typoink)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2013, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-it-become-the-obama-phone/662188/20 "2013-07-01T22:14:19Z")
As a strong believer in social services, the Obamaphones are the one thing I run into that really vexes me. Not because I dislike the program conceptually, but because my interactions with the users have been tremendously aggravating. I work for a cellphone company. Not for one of the companies that administer the plan. I occasionally get a caller who has one of these phones, because they can route in if they dial 611 while hitting one of our towers. Despite the fact that they’re calling literally the wrong company, these are some of the most obnoxious calls I take. Disrespectful, aggressive, and completely unwilling to provide necessary information. At times, they can’t even provide their own phone number or the name of the service they activated the phone through. But they’re very convinced that yelling at or insulting me will make their Obamaphone work. I still think it’s a good idea to provide the service, but. Yeesh. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-it-become-the-obama-phone/662188.md?page=2)