Special Reports & Tweets - 20121010_SpecialReport-2_Alex
Aired: 2012-10-10
Duration: 04:51


=== Controversy Over Free Cell Phones (04:28) ===

[00:00:00]  Thanks for watching!
[00:00:11]  Yes!
[00:00:11]  Everybody in Cleveland, low minority, got Obama phone!
[00:00:14]  Keep Obama in president, you know!
[00:00:17]  He gave us a phone!
[00:00:18]  He's gonna do more!
[00:00:20]  As the Obama phone video continues to go viral, the video has prompted many Americans to criticize the welfare state and the pitiful results most welfare programs have produced.
[00:00:31]  One such program is the Lifeline Benefit Program, which has received rave reviews from the Obama phone lady and other low-income residents.
[00:00:39]  I have about like six in my personnel.
[00:00:42]  Each and every one of these phones work.
[00:00:43]  At home I know I have about thirty and all I'm on.
[00:00:47]  Do you think it's a good idea for the federal government to charge three dollars on your cell bill to give people free cell phones?
[00:00:53]  I don't think so.
[00:00:55]  I think a cell phone's not unnecessary, so I don't think the government has this right to do that.
[00:01:00]  Not at all.
[00:01:01]  That's completely garbage.
[00:01:02]  I mean, I pay a hundred plus a month for my cell phone.
[00:01:06]  I don't see why they're handing out free cell phones to other people.
[00:01:10]  No.
[00:01:11]  Why not?
[00:01:12]  Well, I think it's a product.
[00:01:15]  If people want to buy it and can afford to buy it, they should.
[00:01:18]  But I don't think the government should be handing them out.
[00:01:21]  Handing somebody a cell phone is an opportunity to get a job.
[00:01:24]  It's an opportunity to call back your employer.
[00:01:26]  There is no more public phones.
[00:01:29]  So you can't just ask them to shove them in the public phones.
[00:01:32]  They've been reduced by 90% in this country.
[00:01:33]  So I think there should be a program.
[00:01:36]  But every American who has a cell phone to pay $3 without being asked, that's not American in my book.
[00:01:42]  So it should be optional?
[00:01:44]  It should be optional.
[00:01:46]  Um, I don't think so.
[00:01:49]  I think that's a controversial question, but I think basic human rights like food, shelter, healthcare should be given by the government, but not commodities like cell phones, no.
[00:02:01]  Yeah, you see, I do have an issue with people reducing really complicated issues down to quick sound bites.
[00:02:10]  Generally, people that are receiving government benefits aren't living the high life and living in comfort.
[00:02:16]  So, I don't really have a problem with following the edict of helping the people that need the most help.
[00:02:25]  I do.
[00:02:26]  I think it's important to give a little to get a lot, and obviously we've all gotten a lot.
[00:02:30]  I went to public school, I drive on the roads, I ride my bike in bike lanes, so I do believe in giving money so that other people can have something that I already have.
[00:02:39]  Generally speaking, I don't have a problem with providing poor people with cell phones, especially when those poor people are women with children.
[00:02:47]  And without cell phones, they find themselves in danger.
[00:02:51]  We don't have pay phones anymore, so people can't just walk around the corner and use a phone.
[00:02:55]  So a low-cost, bare-bones cell phone for safety only makes sense.
[00:03:04]  The FCC, which oversees this initiative, says phone ownership among this group has increased by an estimated 12% since the program began in the 1980s.
[00:03:15]  According to the Cato Institute, since President Barack Obama took office, federal welfare assistance has increased by an estimated 41%.
[00:03:24]  The organization also notes that over the past half century, both the federal government and local governments have spent an estimated $15 trillion trying to combat poverty.
[00:03:35]  However, during this time, the poverty rate has only decreased by about 4%.
[00:03:40]  Is that stealing?
[00:03:41]  I think it is because it's not the citizen's rights.
[00:03:45]  I mean, it's not the obligation of the citizens to pay for other people's cell phones.
[00:03:51]  It's stealing in a sense.
[00:03:55]  In short, yes it is.
[00:03:57]  What if it went to poor people?
[00:04:01]  I'm not the richest guy either.
[00:04:03]  I'm not poor, but I don't have a lot of money and I spend some of my money on my cell phone, so why can't other people?
[00:04:11]  I don't think so.

=== Public Services and Spending (00:38) ===

[00:04:13]  Why not?
[00:04:15]  I think we all get a lot from the government.
[00:04:16]  So I got roads, I got public school, etc.
[00:04:19]  So I think public services are for the good of everybody.
[00:04:23]  Well, I don't know if it's stealing.
[00:04:25]  I think it's probably excessive spending on the federal government's part.
[00:04:28]  I think, as far as three dollars go, you know, I don't think it's stealing from the American public.
[00:04:36]  But I do think, I don't know, I guess you would have to, The public should be informed, is what I'm saying.
[00:04:43]  So you should have access to the information of where it's going.
[00:04:46]  If you don't, then I don't know if I would want to label it stealing, but I would label it wrong.