A civil right? No. Something worthwhile to have and almost necessary in today's world? Yes.
I don't mind poor people having access to cell phones and free minutes. They aren't getting new iPhones and 5000 minutes a month. Sure there will be a few who abuse it, there are always people who abuse the hand-outs available, but that doesn't mean the program is worthless.
I don't care for career welfare recipients who simply refuse to work. In most, if not all, cases welfare should have a time limit and stricter policies. Michigan at one time required welfare recipients to join Job training programs or attend a Vocational school, so they could get a decent job and not need welfare. That has, to my knowledge, been gotten rid of. There were people that found their way around those measures as well, fewer, but they still did it.
People shouldn't have to need hand-outs, and plenty of people put off asking for assistance until their only other choice is dying.
I have a friend that recently broke down and got on a WIC program. She was in-between jobs and spent a few months eating nothing but cheap, old, coffee and the cheapest veggies she could get, so she could buy her toddler daughter decent food. Her health took a major hit and her abusive ex-BF and father of their child only made matters much worse. She broke down when she felt she couldn't care for her daughter, got into a WIC program and is doing better. She has a full-time job now, but it doesn't cover all the bills so she is still on the WIC program, for her daughter's sake. When she doesn't need it, she'll leave the program, like many decent people do.
I also grew up knowing system scammers. The dad worked for 6 months, then they stayed on welfare until it ran out and when it did, he found a job and worked for 6 months. They also moved a lot, but it wasn't until I was in my teens that I realized why. They would get a mortgage, move into a house, then stop making payments and lived there until the bank foreclosed and forced them out. Then they picked a different bank and did it all over again.
Scammers will always find a way to gain from the system. They leech off welfare, unemployment and any handout they can get, government or privately funded. Well meaning people should not be punished for the few scammers that muck up the system.
There are plenty of people out there looking for whatever jobs they can get, and a cell phone with basic functions would be a benefit to them. They may not have access to land lines in their own home or that of a friend or family member. They may be traveling daily to find work and not have any other means of being contacted. They don't need expensive phones, there are plenty basic phones that have the necessary functions and coverage that are inexpensive. Again, I don't think these free phone programs are handing out iPhones with 5000 minutes and $100 worth of apps. If they were, I could understand being outraged at the program.
