I saw the now infamous video of the Obama supporter who brazenly tells the world that she has an “Obama phone” when it first broke late last week. The woman in the video then goes on to list the qualifications or requirements for receiving said object of governmental largess.

That there is really such a thing as an ‘Obama phone’ comes as no surprise given the democratic way of buying votes through targeted application of government funds (yes, I know, really taxpayer dollars). I was mistaken in my assumption that this was something new or just a slang expression for the program. While it seems to be a little of both, this website was a bit of a surprise. (h/t Chris Graham @ Political Outcast)

I was not surprised by the list of automatic qualifiers and the author offers this helpful hint: “Qualifications can vary by state. The best way to know if you qualify is by filling out an application for a Lifeline provider in your state. Click here to get a free cell phone.”

Not that the program has merit and not that there are those who will indeed be blessed to have such a wonderful device available for their family but there has to be an end of the wasted dollars. The taxpayers can no longer afford to pay the cell phone companies by means of a ‘hidden tax’ on our phone bills! That’s who is really taking the public to the cleaners on this program. As they are ‘just’ filling orders for government purchase orders, they are fulfilling their duty to shareholders but ultimately handing the bill to the taxpayers.

That there are those who try to ‘game the system’ is no shock. Anyone who looks just below the surface of the lives of those trapped in the lie will find many more stories like the Obama Phone. It is not a pleasant thought to consider, but this is the country that we are going to pass down to our great-grand-children.

Or we can say, “Enough! No more! Our dollars, our choice!

CODA:

My youth was spent in a home where the main objective was to “get all you can because, if you don’t, someone else will“. Many in that lifestyle readily share information on such programs in the same way most people will share an unadvertised special at the local food store. This webpage seems to be similar -  a page from someone who is happy to share the latest grab of taxpayer dollars. Are there pages for big screen TV’s, free broadband internet and other non-essential items? I would not be surprised if there were many others like it. How low does our society have to sink before even the most optimistic cheerleaders and proponents will no longer condone such waste?

The philosophy of “gettin’ while the gettin’ good” (gaming the system) had a profound effect on me. I soon realized that if I bought into the mentality, it would severely limit what I could do to escape the abject circumstances that had come to define my life. When I moved out of the house at 17, I struggled with it. My conversion to Christianity two years before and the fact that all of that had been a lie (a taxpayer funded lie) weighed heavily on me so I decided that I would choose a different path. Yes, it put me at odds with some in my immediate family, but that was of little concern. I had to live with myself and living that lie was no longer an option.

EDITED 10/2/2012 to include:

Alfonzo Rachel at ZoNation has posted a(nother) must see commentary on this topic (h/t The Right Scoop):