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Congress Tamps Down on Annoying Commercials
September 30, 2010 - by Donny Shaw
Come 2012, climate change, unemployment, the broken U.S. immigration system, and campaign-finance corruption may very well be unaddressed national catastrophes as a result of Senate gridlock. But, hey, at least watching TV will be a little less irritating. Maybe.
The Commercial Advertising Loudness Mitigation Act has been kicking around Congress for a few years now thanks to Rep. Anna Eshoo [D, CA-14]. Yesterday, before adjourning for the midterms, the Senate passed it under unanimous consent, following up on the House’s passage of it last year and moving it forwards toward becoming law.
The bill is simple. It calls for the Federal Communications Commission to issue, within 1 year, regulations implementing the highly-technical volume guidelines that were drawn up recently by the “Advanced Television Systems Committee,” an industry group that sets standards and issues recommendations, insofar as they pertain to commercials. It also gives the FCC power to issue a waiver to any “television broadcast station, cable operator, or other multichannel video programming distributor that demonstrates that obtaining the equipment to comply with the regulation […] would result in financial hardship.”
Because the House and Senate versions have some minor differences, either a conference committee will be convened to reconcile them in the lame-duck session, or the House will just agree to accept the Senate’s version. Either way, this is set to become law, so sometime in 2012 try to remember to pay attention to the volume of infomercials to see if this worked at all.

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Watch the Ed Show on MSNBC. He is really putting it out there for the 99’ers. But there is a NOVO Mignon Vesley Fields that has it all wrong. She’s talking about this was the Democrats fault that we are in the situation that we are in. She seem to forget that the Democrats are the only ones that have been trying to get us any kind of benefits. Every step of the way, the Republicans have said no. She was actually thinking about not voting. How silly would that be? Then you can’t say a word when after the Republicans win the House and Congress, they don’t even discuss any kind of relief for the 99’ers after the election. Thank You Ed. You and Rachel Maddow along with Keith Olberman, are the only ones that have been keeping this in the news.
What you just said is so untrue 8 months of hell is shameful and the Democrats should have fought harder for the 99er’s what a horrible and selfish person you must be.
Horrible and selfish? If you don’t get your head out of your ass, then maybe you will be able to see straight. If you know your history, unemployment is a right to citizens that have worked and lost their employment through no fault of their own. It has never, in the history of Congress, been up for discussion as to how it’s going to be paid for because its above and beyond the norm. This is an emergency! You don’t think so? I bet you were one of the ones sitting there thinking that this thing was gonna boil over and you’ll be able to go back to the way it used to be. Sorry Charlie – NO DICE! It was 8 months of hell because of the Republicans, not because the Democrats could have fought harder! What a stupid observation! I know it was hell because I was living it! I know who stood up there fighting to get it through and I know who knocked it down every chance they got. That is very clear to me.
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But, you, go ahead and kiss those Republican butts because if they get their way, you are going to be doing alot worse later on….
Some commercials are truly irritating; however the sponsors would definitely be experiencing a setback. For reaching your consumers you have to rely on advertising. But it does take a lot of investment. For small business owners it is best to choose classified services like Tulsa classifieds.
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Uh…and this would be another, muchneededthankyouverymuch, role of our dear Federal government as outlined in the Constitution, where?
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How interesting Congress again takes a break, a midterm election break at that, and leaves us without a vote. Personally, I just want a job and continue my search,but realistically, I look to the midterms and a new party. I will put my eggs into the Constitution Party. Youtube “The Secret Of Oz” since we can’t afford to rent it! It is free at Youtube. The issue is give Congress back the Constitutionally mandated right to mint money all the money they want and need to spend and do away with their borrowing from the Federal Reserve, abolish the Federal Reserve. This depression will end overnight and we will all be back to work particularly since the Democrats and Republicans can’t seem to do anything for Americans! That’s just the way I see it.
That’s exactly why I am sitting this election out both party’s suck lol.
Oh really? So you want to put the Republicans back in then…the same ones that got us into this mess in the first place. REAL SMART. Try educating yourself: www.thomhartmann.com
Well Mr. Benjawiz, if you won’t vote in this election please do not trouble yourself or the rest of society with any comments about our next sessions of Congress. Yes, you still have your rights under the first amendment to speak your mind. You should also respect the rights of those who exercise their right to select our government through voting and let those who do vote have the right to complain about the outcome.
Paraphrased: If you vote, speak up! If you don’t, keep quiet!
“The depression will end over night " are you crazy ? Did you know in order to print money and have it worth anything it has to be backed up by gold. We are broke! No precious metals just credit.
Federal Reserve, abolish yes it should be ,but we can’t pay our bills where should that money come from?
You have got to be joking ,is this where my tax dollars are going ? Why do we need a law to regulate the volume on TV commericals , I mean really ! Do we not have anything better to do. If you don’t like the volume there is a NEW device call a remote control turn it down, you don’t even have to get your lazy butt off the couch. Are we so lazy that we need to pass a law to make the volume lower so we don’t have to push the button? What is wrong with this ,EVERTHING !
Better yet, are we so inconsiderate of others that we force them to change the volume just so commercial presenters can bombard us with a wall of sound that most of us would rather not hear. The FCC should regulate technical issues such as this in and for the public’s interest. Congress has done right by “We the people,” in this regard.
Yes, this is important how? As annoying as those commercials are, I don’t feel like this is a job for Congress.
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It may not be important to you, but it is to many of us. Congress now gives a proper tool to the FCC to regulate commercial volume in the interests of and for the public. Commercial messages will still be there, they just won’t have the unfair advantage of higher-than-program-level volume. Television viewers will rejoice! I know I will.
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Billy will be greatly missed. He might have been loud but he sure was proud! – JRSmedical