Political leanings poll

[garbon]

And doesn't use a single tax dollar anyway.

It uses nothing but tax dollars. 

http://www.snopes.com/politics/taxes/cellphone.asp

The Lifeline program is not directly subsidized by taxpayer monies. It is paid for out of the federal Universal Service Fund (USF) through a fee assessed against telecommunications service providers, who may or may not pass those costs along to their customers:
All telecommunications service providers and certain other providers of telecommunications must contribute to the federal USF based on a percentage of their interstate and international end-user telecommunications revenues. These companies include wireline phone companies, wireless phone companies, paging service companies and certain Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) providers.

Some consumers may notice a "Universal Service" line item on their telephone bills. This line item appears when a company chooses to recover its USF contributions directly from its customers by billing them this charge. The FCC does not require this charge to be passed on to customers. Each company makes a business decision about whether and how to assess charges to recover its Universal Service costs. These charges usually appear as a percentage of the consumer's phone bill. Companies that choose to collect Universal Service fees from their customers cannot collect an amount that exceeds their contribution to the USF. They also cannot collect any fees from a Lifeline program participant.

[The Minsky Moment]

Well . . . it is a charge applied by the government to a private entity, and the incidence of that has to fall somewhere.  But it hardly makes the case out for Obama (or bush or whoever was responsible for it) to be an apostle of BIG G.

[CountDeMoney]

And doesn't use a single tax dollar anyway.

It uses nothing but tax dollars. 

Wrong, FOXNewsboi.

Where does the money for Lifeline subsidy come from?  You.

Take a look at your phone bill and you'll see a charge -- typically a few dollars a month -- for payments to the "Universal Service Fund." That's the umbrella program covering various ventures, including Lifeline, that are designed to make telephone communications universally available to all Americans.

The government requires most telecoms to pay into the fund. The carriers then typically pass the costs on to their customers as a monthly surcharge. Last year, Lifeline accounted for 20% of the $8.1 billion Universal Service Fund distributed to support connections for rural areas, schools, hospitals and low-income individuals.

http://money.cnn.com/2012/10/26/technology/mobile/tracfone-free-phones/

[CountDeMoney]

Well . . . it is a charge applied by the government to a private entity, and the incidence of that has to fall somewhere.  But it hardly makes the case out for Obama (or bush or whoever was responsible for it) to be an apostle of BIG G.

But it's not a tax.  Just like one doesn't have to take a shitty no-paying job that keeps one in working poverty, one is not required to pay into it by having a telephone.  See how that goes both ways?

[mongers]

Well . . . it is a charge applied by the government to a private entity, and the incidence of that has to fall somewhere.  But it hardly makes the case out for Obama (or bush or whoever was responsible for it) to be an apostle of BIG G.

He must be; his name starts with a big B too, has an I in it and whilst it doesn't have two Gs, it does have four, count them four As ! Damn, what other proof do you need?

[The Minsky Moment]

Truth is we haven't had a big government President since LBJ.  Or a small government one.  There have been differences in priorities and emphasis within the budget but the overall size of the federal government in the economy has remained pretty stable aside from cyclical fluctuation.

[Admiral Yi]

But it's not a tax.  Just like one doesn't have to take a shitty no-paying job that keeps one in working poverty, one is not required to pay into it by having a telephone.  See how that goes both ways?

One is not required to have a job, so income tax is...not a tax?

[Norgy]

Voted Red Communist, obviously. Just for fun.

[Ideologue]

Voted Red Communist because it's true.

[Eddie Teach]

Voted Pink Socialist cause I want to take rich people's money away. 

[Neil]

He made volumes of speeches from the 60s onward advocating small government.  He continued with that rhetoric through his presidency.  Obviously as pragmatic as he was he had to compromise on some of those principles to get things done.  You're not going to get ideological purity out of any president these days (if ever?).

He oversaw a massive expansion of the military.  That wasn't a compromise, that was his main deal.

That's the thing with "small government" conservatives:  the DoD never counts.

Actually, I wouldn't mind us having a smaller army and maybe a smaller air force.  But I want a bigger navy, maybe even with a few of the battleships Neil so loves.

POTM

[Neil]

He was an officer in the AF when it was still part of the Army, but I don't think he made general until it became a separate service.  Not sure about that though.

He was a lieutenant colonel in the USAAF.  He didn't make major general until he was in the Air Force reserves.

The world would be a better place if the USAF was shoved back under the Army.

[Neil]

Also, I voted Pink Socialist.  I'm probably somewhere in there between that and Center Democrat, but I wanted to keep as much distance as possible between myself and the Tea Party types.

[Siege]

So, you hate freedom.

[Razgovory]

I hate some forms of freedom.