Congress: We Need to Talk

Congress, especially the Senate, are two bodies of government that do NOT usually make my christmas card list. And, there are a few reasons for that. For firsts, most members usually have to be dragged kicking and screaming to enact any meaningful legislation that may change the status quo. As as we all know, the status is anything but quo.

For seconds, even if meaningful legislation gets to a vote, some no-name from some tiny backwater county will add five amendments to it, change the nature of the bill, and manage to nuke the whole process. Just some recent examples? The Don't Ask Don't Tell Repeal and the DC Voting Rights Act. Both of these were good changes that got sidetracked by politics and greed. So, way to go elected officials.

For Thirds, Congress really only cares about passing legislation that panders to either the elderly or the very dumb. And, they usually manage to pass said legislation around the time of an election.

Cue last week's little gem, which, as luck would have it, was passed right before the midterm elections: The "Commercial Advertisement Loudness Mitigation" Act, or CALM. Basically, it's a bill that makes sure that television commercials can't be louder than the actual program.

Let me be clear: I am 100% behind this idea. It's annoying to watch a program and then have the LOUD commercial come on, forcing you to turn the TV down and up multiple times during a one hour program.

However, I am unclear why it took an ACT OF CONGRESS to get this change made. I mean, doesn't this seem like something the FCC could have taken care of, oh, i don't know, in 1950? I guess the FCC ruled in 1984 that there was no "fair" way to write a regulation limiting the sound of commercials on TV. That's my new favorite example of a bureaucracy throwing up their hands and saying, "There's nothing we can do, even though there is, but we kinda just don't feel like looking into it further." Attaboy!

Again, I'm not a sound engineer, but there is a way to keep levels the same when mixing sound--i know because the sound of the actual TV shows does not vary wildly, which means SOMEONE mixed the sound level down to keep it consistent. So, doesn't it follow that commercials couldn't be mixed in the same way? And that it wouldn't take an act of Congress to do it? It just boggles the mind.

This, in a nutshell, is why I am conditioned to think anyone who runs for national office is a dbag.