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Dueling testimony: One “expert” says Lifeline criticism is racist, another says it’s not strict enough

September 24, 2017

In case you missed it, two “experts” with diametrically opposed positions recently testified before a United States Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Technology. One said criticism of the Lifeline free government cell phone program were “overblown, and frankly offensive” to poor and minority communities. The other said the Lifeline program needs a complete overhaul.

Which one do you believe?

law360.com tells more about the testimony:

Jessica J. González, senior counsel for liberal think tank Free Press, told the committee during a hearing on the Federal Communications Commission’s Lifeline program that lawmakers should recognize “the racist undertones” in “inflated stories of waste, fraud and abuse,” and acknowledge that many communities legitimately rely on Lifeline to meet basic needs.

“There’s a tendency to wage war on the poor, to demonize and assume the worst about Lifeline recipients,” she said.

The same article also spelled out the opposing point of view:

Jeffrey Eisenach, a visiting scholar with conservative think tank American Enterprise Institute, told the panel on Wednesday that the best fix for Lifeline is a complete overhaul. He said the government could work on “better targeting” support, citing figures that indicated 19 of 20 people benefiting from Lifeline already had a cellphone or other support before receiving subsidies.


The Lifeline program, created by the Federal Communications Commission, costs more than $1.5 billion per year, and has always faced accusations of waste, fraud and abuse.

The Senate committee met to investigate a recent Government Accountability Office (GAO) study that said unqualified customers are taking advantage the program’s lax verification policies.

“We should strive toward a prudent program, González continued, “but we must ensure everyone has access.”

What is all the hubbub about? Well, the GAO reported back in May that its auditors could not verify that up to one-third of Lifeline participants are actually eligible for the free government cell phone program. It said, in effect, that allowing service providers to verify potential customers’ eligibility is akin to putting the fox in charge of the henhouse. Even worse, the study said that a dozen Lifeline companies approved enrolled customers based on what they called “fictitious eligibility documentation.”

A third witness offered testimony that seemed to back up Eisenach’s position.

Seto Bagdoyan, a GAO auditor, said the FCC’s new national verifier database may just solve the waste, fraud and abuse problems.

“The FCC has taken some steps in the right direction. Execution is obviously the key here,” Bagdoyan declared. “National Verifier is clearly a good step forward, but full implementation is going to be very important.”

The good news is that the national database is designed to coordinate state and federal eligibility databases and to instantaneously weed out ineligible applicants. The bad news is that it won’t be fully functional in 2019.

We have long ranted and raved about the possibility that waste, fraud and abuse could be the weapon the kills the Lifeline Assistance free government cell phone program.

Our point of view? González is crying wolf, but Eisenach is being shortsighted. Bagdoyan is the only one of the three who is viewing the Lifeline world through realistic lenses.

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Comments

  1. Ruel Pate says

    August 8, 2018 at 2:02 pm

    I’ve been trying to locate my safelink phone with the ticket number but it won’t let me. Could you please send me the tracking number for my free safelink wireless phone.

    • Free Government Cell Phones says

      August 8, 2018 at 5:56 pm

      We are not your service provider, Ruel. You need to contact its customer service team.

  2. John Custer says

    September 25, 2017 at 5:29 pm

    If we took all the funds that illegal immigrants have received and gave the money to our deserving citizens. We’d have a hell of a lot of less poverty in this country.

    • Free Government Cell Phones says

      September 25, 2017 at 6:23 pm

      Can’t disagree with you on that comment, John. It would be nice if American citizens got better treatment.

  3. anne fisher says

    September 25, 2017 at 4:18 pm

    I need a cell phone real bad I don’t have a cell phone

    • Free Government Cell Phones says

      September 25, 2017 at 6:22 pm

      You need to apply for the program, Anne. Here’s where you can find a list of all the service providers and plans in your state. Make sure you check them all out to find the plan that fits your needs best (most minutes, most texts, most data, best smartphone, etc).

      https://www.freegovernmentcellphones.net/states

    • Michele Griffith says

      February 15, 2023 at 8:24 pm

      The sound on my phone has been out for 3 months. Can I get s new one out even pay for a credo phone to put my sim in it?

      • Free Government Cell Phones says

        February 15, 2023 at 9:12 pm

        The chances of getting a free replacement phone vary depending on how long you’ve been a customer, which service provider you have, how friendly your customer service agent is feeling that day, and lots of other factors. The only way to find out is to contact your service providers customer service team.

        If they won’t give you a new phone or sell you one you want at a price you want, remember that any Lifeline customer can switch service providers at any time. Here’s an article that tells you how to make the switch from one provider to
        another:

        https://www.freegovernmentcellphones.net/faq/how-do-i-switch-lifeline-providers

        Which provider and plan to choose? You can find all the providers and plans available in your state here:

        https://www.freegovernmentcellphones.net/states

  4. Larry says

    September 25, 2017 at 12:58 pm

    This is so out of control I am tired of the Race card being used every time we turn around Thank you Obama Stop enough is enough

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