Block the phone calls

5/4/2008 3:33 AM

Before the primary, a reader complained that his telephone kept ringing with campaign messages even though he was on a no-call registry. However, the list does not apply to political calls and rightly so. When the Bill of Rights was written, it was especially designed to guarantee political speech, and courts have held that it has a higher degree of protection than commercial messages.

But there is a difference between Hillary Clinton or John McCain calling to solicit your vote and a computer dialing your number to play a recording. The state Senate apparently agrees because it voted last week to allow people to block what are known as robo-calls. Such calls are expected to increase in number as the presidential election approaches.

The measure would affect only recorded campaign calls, not live ones.

The lone dissenter in the 48-1vote was Sen. Jim Ferlo of Pittsburgh, who argued that the measure infringed on free speech. He said robo-calls are not as annoying as political "junk mail." The difference, though, is that you can toss a mailed circular in the trash without reading it, and it won't tie up your telephone while it drones on.

If the bill passes the House, it will need the signature of Gov. Ed Rendell, who was ironically the source of many recorded messages on behalf of Clinton last month.