Tornado Alley (PROG)

[blackhawks]

From that basic framework, rumors like the ones encapsulated in the Examples cited above have circulated, claiming that “the Obama administration created a program to give free cell phones paid for by taxpayer money to welfare recipients.”

https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/phone-home/

All the elements of such statements are erroneous or exaggerated:
•The Lifeline program originated in 1984, during the administration of Ronald Reagan; it was expanded in 1996, during the administration of Bill Clinton; and its first cellular provider service (SafeLink Wireless) was launched by TracFone in 2008, during the administration of George W. Bush. All of these milestones were passed prior to the advent of the Obama administration.

•The Lifeline program only covers monthly discounts on landline or wireless telephone service for eligible consumers. It does not pay
cellular companies to provide free cell phones to consumers, although some cellular service providers choose to offer that benefit to their Lifeline customers.