Friday, January 27, 2012

Wealth Transfer on the March: 'Reforming' the Lifeline Program

By Henry Percy

Do you pay your phone bill? I do. Should you also pay for those who do not wish to? You already do. Does that give you a warm glow to know that you are helping spread the wealth, unasked? You see, phone service is so vital that everyone has a right to it, even as a drowning person has a right to a lifeline, and so the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) administers the Lifeline program. We're not talking about watered-down service that allows only 911 calls in an emergency but real, full-blown telephone service.

But, someone says, isn't that harsh to say that the poor choose not to pay for telephone service? What if they can't afford it?

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