'Robocall' legislation being introduced

Maybe the Republicans Cross, Schmitz, and Munson can just ask Jim Oberweis to lay off the robocalls? It's his calls that generated a lot of the comments in your last thread on this topic...

Just a thought here, but it seems to me that many of these repeat or duplicate calls for various candidates may originate from different organizational supporters (unions as one example), the campaigns and other volunteer groups backing a candidate or cause.

Since there is no coordination or planning between these groups or organizations, people often get 'shotgun calls' during a heated campaign. (At least on the Federal level, I believe such coordination or planning is not legal within FEC regulations/laws).

It would help if there were better internal tracking and updating of the caller database a group, campaign or supporters were using. A checkoff list for those households or voters already contacted.

That might go a long way to help reduce the repeat call volumes.

Will see what the proposed legislation has to offer when the details come out.

Regardless of its effectiveness...with some services charging as little as three cents per call, this tool will only grow in popularity I suspect. It's cheap and memorable.

Also, I believe cross-coordination is a pipe dream. The technology doesn't exist that I know of. You should just try getting up to date walk lists from the campaigns or County Clerks.

Plus, I have to believe there laws that cover the coordination between campaigns and outside entities. And in some cases, the campaigns would not want to 'sanction' calls from other pro-candidate entities for practical political reasons, but would most certainly welcome their support in the grand scheme of things.

I'll be anxious to see the language too...Cross is becoming the king of no-lose populist legislation of late.

PfRob,

Agreed, given it's inexpensive, simple and automated (the genuine robo-call prerecorded msgs, instead of auto dialers or phone banks with live volunteers on the phone) this won't be going away soon.

Some analysis and revisions may indeed be called for, never hurts to assess and evaluate the 'return on investments' (time, $$, staff, etc) for these type of GOTV efforts.

Also concur, getting the accurate and current voter lists from County Clerks or other sources does leave much to be desired. The expression 'garbage in-garbage out' comes to mind. Goodness knows when the last time the voter records were reviewed and updated/corrected with a good relational database program.

Wasn't advocating for campaigns to 'coordinate and sanction' wiht outside entities, just a (perhaps poorly expressed) statment that there are more than one source for these robo-calls and other GOTV phone banking efforts.

Good points raise in your comments above...and it's quite true Cross has been racking up some easy yardage with these 'feel good, no-lose' populist legislation efforts. Results and effectiveness are a whole 'nother matter...as the saying goes "The large print giveth and the small print taketh away".

Easy for politicians to 'look busy and concerned' (regardless of party, affiliations,etc.) Long as you 'look like you're doing something' it gets you press and media, adds some bullet points to the next campaign handbills and gives them some 'feel good points' from the lil folks back home.

Good luck coming up with something that survives a free-speech challenge.

There are some other issues as well, for example if it only eliminates automated calls it is going to have a very different impact on different campaigns. For example think of how involved some unions are in local elections, getting these unions to support you so their folks will make calls may become more important. This might give these unions more leverage down the line. The same thing with single issue interest groups.

We received 1 robocall for Oberweis, from Laura Bush, and we received 8 calls from Foster from March 3 until March 8. We have different names in the house and I am sure they don't reconcile their lists. What an absolute ANNOYANCE.

It gets worse Foster robocalled my mother's cell phone, a senior citizen, with 4 calls in one day. That used up her minutes on her calling plan. She is also sight impaired so she could not see the caller id well enough to determine whether she should pick it up so she answered each time to only find out it was a Foster robocall. She now has less minutes to make calls this month. She normally votes Democratic but did not vote for Foster and will not vote for him in November, his calls really turned her off.

Don't try the crap that she would be better off with Foster then Oberweis because Foster will make little difference in her life. Oberweis, being in the minority party in the House, would have little power so she is free to have her opinion and who knows one less vote for Foster might make more of a difference in Foster's life.

This is really nothing more than a PR stunt. This one, in particular, was scheduled in such a way that it will unlikely see the light of day.

As I testified in the US Senate 2.27 (Rules and Administration Committee) for Sen. Feinstein (D-CA) These calls are an epidemic and are invading the privacy of All American Voters.

Our members are taking a stand and saying enough is enough at the National Political Do Not Contact Registry at StopPoliticalCalls.org.

Here is a quote from a member this morning:

"I find it very frustrating... I tend to get calls at the WORST time. I have a one year old daughter, and it NEVER fails that the phone will ring when I put her down for a nap or for bed. Also my vote is PRIVATE... so who do you think you are calling with a survey to find out who I am voting for!!! Stop calling me."

Regards,

Shaun Dakin
CEO and Founder
http://www.stoppoliticalcalls.org

Foster continued with the robocalls, even with all the complaints, somehow he thought that we needed robocalls to tell us that he was going to be at local Jewel stores this weekend. I have to say like like the viewpoint reference to his personality, to being that of a "brick", because his office and campaign did not hear people DON'T want the robocalls. If you DO want robocalls then call Foster's office and sign up to receive them, otherwise don't call. This should be the only way you receive them, if you call the candidate/politician and sign up.

Tom Cross' staff have been responsible for some of the worst robo-call abuses in memory. It was their anonymous phoning with false information that resulted in current laws forcing disclosure of who was paying for the call. Now he's coming out for a ban, and introduced his legislation AFTER the deadline for new bills in Springfield.

At the rate we’re going in Illinois, there will soon be no need to even vote. Those of you who still care about free speech need to speak up before all your freedoms are gradually taken or given away by politicians and people who don’t want to be bothered with actually knowing the facts.

I have personally used robo calls in my school district. Because of their use, my group was able to get about $7,000,000 abated back to the taxpayers. Without robo calls supplementing the neighborhood walks, the effort would have failed. We didn’t have the money to advertise on the radio or the paper. We only had a website, letters to the editors, robo calls and our feet. This is a free speech issue and not just about calls somebody thinks are annoying.

I've missed out on the previous discussions regarding this issue, but it has most certainly been on my mind these last few weeks. I pay an additional fee each month to have an unlisted telephone number and I have registered with the Do Not Call registry to minimize the amount of unwanted/unsolicited phone calls. It's good to know that someone is trying to do something about this. I thought I was the only one annoyed and frustrated. The first time I noticed that this kind of campaigning was becoming a problem was a few years ago when I was on the receiving end of several daily phone calls from school district volunteers urging me to vote yes for an upcoming school referendum. Now the politician's have even taken out the personal effort and are inundating us with recorded messages. I don't value this kind of effort and only see it as an in-your-face, strong-arm tactic which in turn leaves me with negative feelings towards the caller/issue.

Robo calls have saved Lake County taxpayers millions in property taxes simply by informing them of the vote.

In Cook, the recent deal on the tax hike masked the potentially good changes regarding management of the Cook County hospital. The "spine" that got the taxpayers at least some concessions was sourced by robocalls that went into the districts of wavering County Board members.

I understand the annoyance of numerous bad calls written by brain dead political hacks, but you are throwing out the baby with the bathwater. The poltical class LOVES the idea of the newspapers, the 10PM news, and the craven WBBM and WTTW being your ONLY sources of data.

I would rather suffer being "abused" by a few bad politicians making annoying calls than suffer the massive abuse the current political class is inflicting on Illinois citizens.

I would ask all my fellow citizens to think twice before banning yet another source of information on politics.

By the way, lennie, free speech issue and phone calls that someone THINKS are annoying? It is not the right of anyone to disturb another in their private residence by use of repeated, unsolicitied phone calls or knocks on the door. It has nothing to do with free speech. Stand on a public corner and speak all you want. Just don't force me into listening.
I'd also like to know what guarantees that robocalls are a reliable source of information. Is there some secret code of conduct in the robocall rule book that says only true information or worthy causes can be conveyed? Just another way to waste time, money, energy......

Just because you receive a phone call does not mean you have to listen to it. You can hang up, you can ignore it, you can send it to voice mail. The analogy of standing on the corner is rather curious. If you are there on the corner, then are likely to hear more of what I have to say than just hanging up the phone when you realize it is a robocall.

You TV provides you unsolicited and repeated ads for products you probably don't want. They do the same with politicians campaigning. Robo calls are the same thing, a technique for getting out a message. Would you ban all political or other ads on tv as well?

Just because you find the calls annoying, does not mean everyone does. It also does not mean the the information provided is not of benefit to some who receive the calls. The perfect example of this was here in Lake County where the robo calls provided information that forced the school board to abate almost $7 million dollars.

Think about the ramification of what you are asking for here. A ban limits the free speech of organizations that do not have millions of dollars thereby allowing governments to raise taxes and run roughshod over the electorate all because some people are annoyed about receiving a phone call.

I recently returned from a 2 wk vacation on the day of the election. Of the 40 calls on my answering machine, 38 were robocalls. It did not make me happy to have to sort thru the junk to find the 2 calls I wanted. Put quite simply, if I get a robocall I will not vote for that candidate. It's only going to get worse unless legislation is enacted to stop this invasion of my privacy.

I don't think we need a law here.

I think the messages and number of them show the character or lack thereof for the person and their party supporters.

Why should we have the politicians control making a fool of themselves. This is good info.

I'd prefer they didn't waste paper and fill my mailbox with garbage. Why is there no law against that? Who's lobbying for that?

Dr Evil

Wouldn't it be nice if these politician's and their campaigner's familiarized themselves with the word "moderation"? What they're doing is overkill and offensive, apparently to a large number of those they are targeting. Too bad for them if they don't get the message.
Speak all you want, just don't harrass me in my own home. Lennie, you just don't get the point that repeated, unwanted phone calls is a form of harrassment. It has absolutely nothing to do with freedom of speech. I highly doubt you'd appreciate a stranger walking into your home demanding your undivided attention, several times a night, and interrupt your life to give you a "message" just because they feel the time is appropriate or convenient and cost effective. If you would, well then I'd say you don't have much on your plate.

luvyourkids,

I agree with you 100% about moderation. I also see that many here promise not to vote for "anyone" who uses a robo call. (I'll bet that is a bit of an overstatement.)

Regardless, each are examples of the 'free market of ideas' at work. Why not just let it work?

Let me ask you this.

If you rec'd "live" calls, would that be better?
If the calls were not insipid candidate calls (both Oberweis and Foster seem to qualify), but calls on specific issues, would that matter?

For example, this Nov., most important election in IL will not be Obama or Foster, but the Illinois Constitutional Convention vote.

You will have a chance to change the dynamics of IL by getting a convention. Would you want to get a call informing you of that fact, or would like to be in the dark until special interests drop a negative ad bomb, scaring you away from making your own decision.

How about this text?

"Hi,

I'm sorry for the annoying robocall. Please accept my apologies, but this is an important issue. On Nov. 4th, 2008, you will have the opportunity to make an important vote, and it isn't for a candidate.

There will be a referendum on whether the citizens of Illinois will vote "yes" for a Constitutional Convention or whether they will vote "no" for another 20 years of the status quo.

There are very many good arguments for voting yes, and one or two easily addressed arguments for voting no. The opportunity for positive change in this once great state should outweigh any consideration of a "no" vote.

Illinois citizens know that something is wrong, but aren't quite sure what to do. A Convention offers a great opportunity to focus citizen power. That is why all the special interests are against a 'yes' vote.

They have access to political clout. You don't. Voting yes offers you the chance to re-empower the Illinois citizen."

For more information go to......com.
______

Do you really want to ban that type of message. Tom Cross sure does. The timing sure is right.

Your suggestion is certainly a reasonable idea, and I'm all about compromise. But the reality is that boundaries will always be pushed, redrawn, ignored.... You get my point. It's human nature. I would be happier if there were stricter limits to the time of day (9 am to 5 pm), the amount of phone calls (1 per week), and a requirement that all calls must be idenitified truthfully on caller ID.
Here's the unfortunate part for me. I'm just not that interested in politics. (Let the flogging begin!) I'm not smart enough to pick apart the infinite amount of issues that concern our government and I don't pretend to know how to fix any of it. I look at these people and I try to decide which one can do the least amount of damage.
I understand that maybe one of these phone calls could get through my ignorance or someone like me and then little by little we have a more enlightened group of people who can make a difference. Just give people the tools to decide for themselves.

LYKidz,

I would happily endorse all of your suggestions, particularly the disclosure and identification.

I understand your point about politics (I'm the opposite, as I'm a junkie and a policy wonk). Sadly, the more people of your quality 'tune out' the more it is left to the folks who are swayed by insipid robocalls (as opposed to informative ones).

In closing, you (and others like you) need to stop selling yourselves short. Your post is proof positive that you understand politics just fine, and have plenty of intellect to spare re: the complexity.

Look at the condition of the state! We need you involved.

BTW all, I'm right about the convention vote. Vote yes and empower LYKidz. Vote no, and you only make the Blagos and the Crosses stronger.