What this is

The "Do Not Call" List was enabled by the Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991, but after court challenges, was re-enabled by two implementation acts (described below). A handful (7 and 8 Congress Members, respectively) voted against these implementation acts.

A Political Problem

Hello, I'm calling on behalf of the Elephant in the Room. Would you like to buy an Elephant in the Room?

As we saw, particularly during the 2008 election, the votes against implementing the "Do Not Call" List had the obvious political effect.

A First Political Victim

(Well, maybe not the first but the most famous)

As noted in the original telemarketing_votes.html page (appended below), one of the few US Congresspeople who voted against the Federal "Do Not Call" List is one Ron Paul.

This had gone essentially unnoticed, and was ascribed to some political beliefs of Ron Paul, perhaps relating to the gub'ment not telling telemarketing scum what to do. As mentioned in the "original page, this was more significant as an indication of the individual Congresspeople's regard for their constituents than for the effect on the "Do Not Call" List itself. (The List received nearly unanimous Congressional support.)

In 2007-08 Ron Paul was running for President. As in "The President", "White House Occupant". POTUS.
In order to gain the Republican Party nomination, Ron Paul would have to defeat several prominent pols.

But there's another way. If no single candidate garners enough nomination deligates, one of two things happens:

1. One or more nominees drops out and enough of the delegates of that nominees move to a different candidate; one candidate enters the Republican National Convention with sufficent delegates to take the nomination anyway.
2. No one candidate takes the nomination going into the convention, resulting in a brokered convention. This was how Ron Paul was to have a chance at the election.

In contrast, more realistic possibilities are ... well just think of the descriptors of all of the major US candidates and what they either are or what their political positions are:

• Receiving financial support from special interests (other than the telemarketing industry)
• Receiving substantial financial support from people with criminal indictments
• Supporting the war in Iraq (This was 2003.)
• Refusing to support the war in Iraq
• Refusing to support the war in Iraq sometimes and supporting the war in Iraq other times
• A documented history of "tanking" national health care programs
• Religious beliefs issues
• Open support for a woman who expressed a desire to drive off the George Washington Bridge with her children.   (That was within earshot of the child.   As of October-07, the candidate still has not retracted her support. She also lost to Donald Trump, so go figure!)
• Opposing abortion
• Supporting abortion (choice) - in a Republican primary
• Both opposing and supporting abortion (also a Republican)
• A Republican candidate who supported gun control

Obviously all of these are major issues, yet those candidates were viable.

John McCain now has the GOP nomination cinched (and threw Thomas Tancredo under the bus), but that wasn't a given at the beginning of the campaign. It is noteworthy that during the nomination, a candidate "getting less votes than RonPaul" was regarded as a definitive loss.

Put another way, The Telemarketing Scum Page took on Ron Paul (on regulating telemarketing operations). And won.

The Telemarketing Scum Page apparently also took on Ted Strickland. And won. Ted Strickland had a realistic chance and was considered a top contender for Barack Obama's VP pick in early June. Within 2 weeks, Strickland was out.

apparently Democratic Party strategists are abandoning Ken Meeks, the Democratic frontrunner in a campaign for the US Senate, in favor of Republican/Independent Charlie Crist.

Ken Meeks was one of 8 morons who gave the public the middle finger voted against the "Do Not Call" List.

• Ron Paul - No chance if the election went to the convention; no chance for VP. He wasn't even given the Libertarian or Constitutional nomination!
• Ted Strickland - Took Ohio governorship; immediately removed from consideration as Democratic VP candidate as "damaged goods".
• Thomas Tancredo - Resigned seat in Congress to represent conservative interests as GOP VP candidate. Exciting offer but McCain hung up the phone.
• Chris Cannon - In a safe district (Republican in a district which has a Cook PVI of R+22!), but defeated in the primary despite outspending his opponent 6 to 1 !
• Ken Meeks - Supposedly unbeatable. Well, until 2010, when his own party abandoned him in favor of moderate Republican Charlie Crist.

The reason it matters is because of the nature of the Vice Presidental candidacy and the nature of the campaign itself. The Vice Presidental candidate is a running mate, which means that xe is selected to augment the main candidate but must not do harm.   (One criteria is the possibility of "pulling" a swing state, but Gore, Cheney and Biden don't even meet that qualification.)

There's a simple reason for the damaged goods status -- telephone banks are extensively used by national candidates.

Part of the "must not do harm" is no harm to the campaign itself. In a major campaign, candidates maximize telemarketing. That irritates voters, but presumably they find a tolerable level of irritation that will not repel voters. Still, voters are irritated by the calls. For this reason a major candidates does not want to share the ticket with someone who is on record as having voted against the "Do Not Call" list. If the opponent is able to point out that the candidates calling voters also opposed the "Do Not Call" List, that has the potential of causing voters to "take it out" on the offending campaign.

Hence an otherwise insignificant issue (at least in the campaign) can affect voters.

Ron Paul, you said "f*** you" to the American public, but nobody cared because you're considered a nut case anyway. Go back to disclaiming the hate articles in your magazine.

Ted Strickland, you said "f*** you" to the public and Ohio voters apparently ate it up. The problem is Chicago election managers also understood the implications of this. You still have a chance -- If RonPaul decides to run as an independent, he will need a running mate!

Further information on Yahoo (search for "Telemarketing" under the "news")

The Votes

There were two bills:

H R 395: Do-Not-Call Implementation Act

Passed the House 12-Feb-2003

The original bill to ratify, enable, and authorize funding for the Rule implemented by the FTC, and to mandate the FCC implement a corresponding rule.

H R 3161: To Ratify the Authority of the Federal Trade Commission to Establish a Do-Not-Call Registry

Passed the House 25-Sep-2003. Enacted within a day after some Oklahoma judge ruled the "do not call" provisions of the Federal Telemarketing Rule invalid.

As of Tuesday, 7-Oct-03 the 10th Cir. Ct. Appeals reversed the Denver court's injunction, meaning the FTC is cleared to enforce the "Do Not Call" provisions of the Telemarketing Regulation, and presumably forward a copy of the list to the FCC. In addition, the FCC is enforcing parallel rules. This can be reversed by the lower court, but the 10th Circuit indicated it didn't think a challenge would be likely to succeed when brought back through the Ct. of Appeals. Ultimately this will be either reviewed by the Supremes (without Diana Ross) or they'll deny cert. and allow a circuit court ruling to stand.

The FTC's "Do Not Call"  is now also the FCC's list. The lists are being maintained jointly by the FTC and FCC. Several links to the list are below.

opinion.   (wordperfect format).

The 10th Circuit uses a particular four-part test for temporary injunctions, requiring (paraphrased)

go to 10th Cir. website for the more recent opinion which is also there but i'm too tired to get the url. that's the one reversing the denver court. -s (i guess i'm turning this thing into a blogsite)

1. liklihood of success on appeal
2. irreparable harm to the plaintiff in motion
3. absence of harm to third parties
4. risk of harm to public intent

Of greater interest is the fact that the 10th Circuit court expressed an opinion that they would probably rule in favour of one party (the FTC). "... On the record presented, we conclude that petitioners have failed to establish a substantial likelihood of success on the merits ... ."10th&Cir. no. 03-9571, 26-Sep-03.

The Oklahoma District Ct. ruling relates to jurisdiction and was made moot by the Telecommunications Rule Enablement Law, presumably signed into law on 29th Sep. Curiously, the Denver District Ct. ruling contradicts the Oklahoma District Ct. ruling on the matter of jurisdiction.

Also of note, it does not appear that the corresponding FCC rule, using the same list, was subject to either court ruling. This would have meant that even if the FTC "Do Not Call" list is held unenforcable, there would be no corresponding ruling affecting the FCC's rule.

Damaged Goods

Congressmen Who Voted Against

The vote against the "Do Not Call" list would turn out to be a major gaffe, and is particularly potent in elective offices (e.g., Vice President, Lieutenant Governor) where that vote carries liability for a running mate.

I decided to bite my tongue and not use derogative names here. Besides, these people, if elected, have at least a moderate amount of intelligence.

Nay Votes (7):

1. Bishop (Brigham City, UT, r, Representative Rob Bishop) (note - there is at least one other "Bishop")
2. Strickland (Lucasville, OH, d, Governor Ted Strickland) Would have been a potential running mate had Hillary Clinton taken the nomination. Now Damaged Goods. This is particularly significant for a Vice Presidental candidate because he would be likely to lose more votes than he would bring in. (Would that have destroyed Hillary's inevitability?)
   
   There's a simple reason for the damaged goods status -- Telephone banks are extensively used by national candidates. For this reason a major candidate does not want to share the ticket with someone who is on record as having voted against the "Do Not Call" list.
   
   
3. Paul (Surfside, TX, r - supposedly running for Presidental nomination, 2008, Representative Ron Paul)
4. Terry (Omaha, r, Representative Lee Terry)
5. Flake (Yes, that's his real name. Mesa, AZ ,r, Representative Jeff Flake)
6. Ryan (Niles, OH, d, Representative Tim Ryan) (note - there is at least one other "Ryan")
7. Tancredo (Littleton, CO, r, Representative Thomas Tancredo) Ran for Democratic Presidental nominee, but dropped out before his voting record came into play. Votes against the "Do Not Call" list made him damaged goods for Vice President.

H R 3161: To Ratify the Authority of the Federal Trade Commission to Establish a Do-Not-Call Registry

These are at clerk.house.gov Nay Votes (8):

1. Bishop (Brigham City, UT) (note - there is at least one other "Bishop")
2. Kendrick Meek (Miami, FL, d, Representative ) (note - there is at least one other "Meek-")
3. Strickland (Lucasville, OH, d)
4. Chris Cannon (Mapleton, UT, r, Representative ) - 2008 - Cannon lost the primary to Jason Chaffetz
5. Paul (Surfside, TX, r - supposedly running for Presidental nomination, 2008)
6. Terry (Omaha, r)
7. Flake (Yes, that's his real name. Mesa, AZ ,r)
8. Ryan (Niles, OH, d) (note - there is at least one other "Ryan")

The above list has 2 from Utah. Utah only has 3 Representatives total!

This was an easy one, given the 50 million who signed up for the list before it started.

The Senate unanimously passed both bills.

Obviously, if a politician has a reasonably secure seat, xe can afford to stick that middle finger at the public (or the 70% who ultimately signed onto the List), but also presume that to be close to the highpoint of xyr career. As soon as a close election comes along, expect the public to be reminded of that middle finger!

Federal "Do Not Call" List) Links

The US national "Do Not Call" list has started accepting numbers.
(The link will be posted shortly; meantime the links below should get you there within a few clicks.)
FTC Announcement
donotcall.gov/ (direct link to the registry itself)
Registro Nacional "No Llame" la Regulacin de Ventas de Telemercadeo - de FTC en Español

site first posted November 3, 1996 ~~ rev June 4, 2011 ~~ written in WordPerfect 5.1 ~~ copyright 2003 by S. Protigal ~~ Feel free to link to this.