Once Again, Poor People With Cell Phones Become Scapegoats for the Right

Louisiana Senator David Vitter wants to

By Jamilah King May 24, 2013

Louisiana Republican Senator David Vitter took to the floor this week to introduce an amendment that would gut the federal government’s Lifeline Wireless program as part of an amendment to the farm bill. The program, which others on the Right have said gives out free "Obamaphones", offers subsidized cell phones to people who otherwise couldn’t afford them. Vitter has become one of the loudest opponents of the program, which I’ve written before is a [case study in how the right uses race to pervert the spending debate](https://colorlines.com/archives/2013/04/the_truth_about_so-called_obamaphones.html). Vitter used a bunch of racially coded language to express his outrage with the program. "I think the whole program is an entitlement mentality gone wild," he says. "We have started the notion that folks are entitled to the government providing them with almost everything under the sun." It’s worth taking another look at the fact vs. fiction when it comes to these so-called "Obamaphones." Check them out after the jump.