"The viral video sensation of the hour is a sad, terrifying, deliriously funny tirade from an Obama voter protesting at a Romney event, shrieking about the joys of her free “Obama phone” while declaring that “Romney sucks”:
I don’t think this is a put-on satire of the helpless, childish, angry dependency of the hard-core Obama voter, but if it is, this lady is a brilliant comedian.
So, what’s the deal with those “Obama phone?” A few urban-legend discussions of the topic can be found around the Internet, because a widely-forwarded viral email dating back to 2009 trumpets the “no joke” arrival of “Obamaphones.”
A thorough review of the subject reveals that there is indeed a program to provide heavily subsidized cell phones for welfare recipients. It’s an outgrowth of a program called Lifeline Assistance, which was established in 1996 by FCC mandate to help low-income people cover the cost of telephone installation. It expanded to include assistance for cell phones in 2008, which is the year Obama got elected, but George Bush was president at the time."
