The “Obamaphone Lady” (aka Michelle Dowery), who famously urged voters in 2012 to keep Obama “in president” because “he gave us a phone,” could not be reached for comment regarding the president’s latest act of largess (at taxpayers’ expense, of course).
The Washington Times has the details:
The Federal Communications Commission agreed Thursday to expand the Obamaphone, dubbed the LifeLine Program, to include high-speed Internet access. By doing so, the cost of the program will increase by 50 percent, without any efforts to reduce spending elsewhere, or clamp down on the program’s waste, fraud and abuse.
“Failing a major change in direction, the FCC is preparing to massively expand the size and scope of the Lifeline Program without the necessary inclusion of a hard budget or financial constraints,” conservative FCC Commissioner Michael O’Reilly wrote in his blog on the commission’s website.
“Such irresponsible action will balloon a program plagued by waste, fraud, and abuse and result in higher phone bills for every American — including those already struggling in the current economy. In sum, it’s a recipe for disaster, and I can’t and won’t be part of it,” he said.
As for broadband internet access being a right, Obama argued in 2015 that it was a “necessity,” which is the same argument he used to promote subsidized health care as a “right.” Neither “right” appears in the Constitution, but the president has shown he has little patience for that antiquated document.
As for Dowery, she was clearly more prescient in her pitch for keeping “Obama in president” than anyone realized at the time, since she also predicted, “He gonna do more.” It could be argued she was envisioning free high-speed access.
Here’s the video:
