DO NOT CALL LIST AND FIRST AMENDMENT
I'm having a hard time with the "Do Not Call" list and the First Amendment. With over 50 million folks signed up, you'd think that would be a pretty resounding slap in the face of the telemarketing industry. However, the Telemarketer's Association (TMA) feels that any law stopping them from calling folks at home is a breach of the First Amendment. And I am a great fan of the First Amendment.

But whatever the legal arguments may be, there still remains the simple fact that many people (at least 50 million) do NOT want to be called at home with cold offers for anything under the sun. Isn't the whole point of signing up to the "Do Not Call" list that you are requesting the TMA NOT to call. I mean, "Do Not Call" is pretty self explanatory, isn't it? IF that's the case, there is no First Amendment breach - I have exercised my right to say "Don't call me" and I expect the TMA to accede to my request.

My other strategy is that from now on, I will answer the call from telemarketers by a verbal tirade that will border on the offensive and abusive - nay, it will cross that border and actually BE offensive and abusive. I do not want timeshares, vacations, credit cards, mortgages, or anything else.

Oh, and while we're at it, I don't want to hear from charities neither. I don't want to sound brutal, but I already donate a proportion of my money to various charitable causes and I cannot spare any more. Sorry, but that's the way it is.