# 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:** 14\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![TimeWinder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bcef8e/32.png) [@TimeWinder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TimeWinder)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2013, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-it-become-the-obama-phone/662188/21 "2013-07-02T22:42:32Z")
So just to get this straight. Summarizing the posts in this thread, it’s a program that started under the Reagan Administration, the Clinton Administration, and the Bush Administration, but was extended to cell phones specifically under the Clinton Administration but definitely under the Bush Administration? Why _not_ call it the Obamaphone? Nobody else seems to know where it came from either. ---
**Author:** ![Rushgeekgirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rushgeekgirl/32/3715_2.png) [@Rushgeekgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rushgeekgirl)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2013, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-it-become-the-obama-phone/662188/22 "2013-07-03T03:45:41Z")
I have one. It’s a basic Tracphone with 250 minutes per month. I think I qualified because I get food stamps. It really, really helps me out. I call it my Obamaphone just as a joke because I’ve heard so many right-wingers complain about the program using that term. ---
**Author:** ![Rushgeekgirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rushgeekgirl/32/3715_2.png) [@Rushgeekgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rushgeekgirl)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2013, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-it-become-the-obama-phone/662188/23 "2013-07-03T03:47:35Z")
> [@typoink](#): > > 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. At one time we were supposed to call 611 to connect with the service department in order to re-up our minutes every month. Now you just go to the menu and choose from there. ---
**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 3, 2013, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-it-become-the-obama-phone/662188/24 "2013-07-03T13:51:59Z")
> [@TimeWinder](#): > > Why _not_ call it the Obamaphone? Nobody else seems to know where it came from either. If you read some of the links above you will see that some of the companies involved tied their marketing to the urban community to the current administration. Its a government program but the companies getting the subsidies are for profit. Its a marketing strategy that worked. ---
**Author:** ![Blackberry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecd19e/32.png) [@Blackberry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blackberry)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2013, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-it-become-the-obama-phone/662188/25 "2013-07-03T14:12:31Z")
The funny thing is how people are pretending a cell phone is an inordinate luxury. I’d like listening to early-90s hip hop. I benefited from this program when I first moved out on my own, in 2001. I got around $7 off my landline bill from it. At that time, no one cared, because it wasn’t big pimpin’ mobile phone. Now, oooh, you get a phone that literally sells for $10, and 250 minutes a month. You shameless hedonist leech. ---
**Author:** ![TimeWinder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bcef8e/32.png) [@TimeWinder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TimeWinder)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2013, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-it-become-the-obama-phone/662188/26 "2013-07-03T15:11:02Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > If you read some of the links above you will see that some of the companies involved tied their marketing to the urban community to the current administration. Its a government program but the companies getting the subsidies are for profit. Its a marketing strategy that worked. Yes, I understand that. I was just pointing out that this thread is particularly egregious in folks firmly stating “facts” that cannot all be true. ---
**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 3, 2013, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-it-become-the-obama-phone/662188/27 "2013-07-03T15:12:38Z")
> [@TimeWinder](#): > > Yes, I understand that. I was just pointing out that this thread is particularly egregious in folks firmly stating “facts” that cannot all be true. Is that a fact? ---
**Author:** ![TimeWinder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bcef8e/32.png) [@TimeWinder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TimeWinder)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2013, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-it-become-the-obama-phone/662188/28 "2013-07-03T18:19:23Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > Is that a fact? I’m not sure what to make of this response at all. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2013, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-it-become-the-obama-phone/662188/29 "2013-07-03T18:40:25Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > And c’mon! Would you really want to talk into something called a “Bush” phone?!? :dubious: (Michael Douglas might, but still…) :rolleyes: Ladies and gentlemen, “talking on the Bush phone”, the next great euphemism… ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2013, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-it-become-the-obama-phone/662188/30 "2013-07-03T18:53:46Z")
> [@Jragon](#): > > I think it’s from when [this](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tpAOwJvTOio) video went viral. > [@typoink](#): > > 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. And these retards get to vote. Anything to “keep Obama in president”. ---
**Author:** ![DJ\_Motorbike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90ced4/32.png) [@DJ\_Motorbike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DJ_Motorbike)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2013, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-it-become-the-obama-phone/662188/31 "2013-07-03T18:58:46Z")
> [@Blackberry](#): > > The funny thing is how people are pretending a cell phone is an inordinate luxury. I’d like listening to early-90s hip hop. > > I benefited from this program when I first moved out on my own, in 2001. I got around $7 off my landline bill from it. At that time, no one cared, because it wasn’t big pimpin’ mobile phone. Now, oooh, you get a phone that literally sells for $10, and 250 minutes a month. You shameless hedonist leech. Get your own damn phone. ---
**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 3, 2013, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-it-become-the-obama-phone/662188/32 "2013-07-03T19:03:15Z")
> [@TimeWinder](#): > > I’m not sure what to make of this response at all. [This](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2o0V6VPX_E0) is the proper response. ---
**Author:** ![Blackberry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecd19e/32.png) [@Blackberry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blackberry)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2013, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-it-become-the-obama-phone/662188/33 "2013-07-04T00:26:36Z")
> [@DJ\_Motorbike](#): > > Get your own damn phone. Got one. MagicJack. But they didn’t have those back in the olden days. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2013, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-it-become-the-obama-phone/662188/34 "2013-07-04T01:38:56Z")
People, we’re in MPSIMS, not GD or the Pit. Dial back the invective, please. **twickster** , MPSIMS moderator [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-it-become-the-obama-phone/662188.md?page=1)