There is an enlightening (and thus infuriating) article at National Review where a reporter described how she has been issued three free "Obamaphones" in the past month. It's a must-read.
The SafeLink vendor then referred me to his opposite number, a rep from Assurance. She too took down my information, registering me for another Obamaphone.
Traveling to several of the welfare offices in the city, I learned this was common practice. Obamaphone reps come in twos, and both will sign you up if they can.
Yes, of course this is a disgrace. So much of what our government is doing today is a disgrace. A key lesson is to go through the article and notice how many times people who are executing this government program are simply not following the law, not following procedures, not observing regulations. When are we going to get wise to the fact that government doesn't follow its own rules. It doesn't observe its own firewalls and restrictions. That's why we must not give government power and create programs in the first place, because any power and any program WILL be abused and WILL be administered corruptly. It's the nature of government. It is the nature of government to be lawless.
Read the whole piece.
And if you’ve been wondering why the companies are so eager to hand out free phones, the incentive is built into the program. As Griffin explains, “Of course, the way the program was set up, [wireless companies] were getting money for every one they could give out, so they gave out as many as they could.”
Duh.