Show me a law that IS constitutional By K.D. Seefeld News-Chronicle Here is something on which we all agree: Telemarketers are annoying pests. It doesn’t matter if you are black, white, Hispanic, Oriental, purple or plaid. Most folks hate telemarketers. The same is true of flies. Complaints about this pestilence of telemarketing prompted the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to create a Do Not Call list. It is not unpopular. Fifty million American households have telephoned the FTC to be added to the list. After the FTC’s announcement of the Do Not Call list, here’s what happened. The telemarketers telephoned their lawyers. The lawyers then dialed up the court. The court set a trial date. Invitations to the trial were sent to the litigants. Once the court heard the disputants’ testimony, Judge #1 ruled that the FTC didn’t have the authority to keep a list. The telemarketers leaped and pranced with glee. The FTC fumed and immediately called their creator, Congress. The Congress went into a tizzy, much like that of a molested hornet’s nest. When the worker bees finally recovered their composure, they reassembled at the hive and made another law. They thought it was a good law. They whizzed around extolling their wisdom to all throughout the land. Even the president thought it was marvelous legislation and agreed to sign it into law. Isn’t it kinda amazing how Congress thinks all their laws are good laws. Zero senators and eight congressmen voted no on this legislation. Meanwhile, out in the hinterland, Judge #2 rules that the telemarketers are being denied their freedom of speech. if charities and political organizations can telephone the people on the No Call List. That is unconstitutional! Judge #2, U.S. District Court Judge Edward W. Nottingham, in his 34- page opinion said the FTC "has chosen to entangle itself too much in the consumer’s decision by manipulating consumer choice..." He points out that, Congress can’t adopt laws that favor one type of speech over another if the content isn’t significantly different. Whether it is a commercial enterprise, a charity, or a political group, consumers are being asked for money. The judge wrote, "Because the do-not-call registry distinguishes between the indistinct, it is unconstitutional under the First Amendment." Isn’t it kinda perplexing that only 8 congressmen voted against an unconstitutional law. If anyone had the time to read all the laws passed, we would probably find that the number of laws passed and the number of unconstitutional laws passed would be the same number. Okay, we all complain about telemarketers; they are an annoyance. We all agree. Yet, is this annoyance worth letting sleazy, pandering politicians usurp rights guaranteed by the Constitution? Shouldn’t we be absolutely furious with the politicians who voted to violate, commandeer, and seize freedom of speech? Or, do we shred a little bit more of the Constitution for the convenience of eliminating an annoyance. Annoyance! The same politicians who voted to prohibit commercial telemarketing wrote the law to exempt themselves and their own political organizations. Shouldn’t we be infuriated? Have Americans become so totally reliant and dependent on nanny government that they are too stupid and weak to figure out how to deal with annoying telemarketers? If telemarketers are annoying you, send five bucks to the Direct Marketing Association to be erased from their list. If flies are bugging you, get a fly swatter. You can email K. D. Seefeld at [email protected]