SB 48 puts target on the Dudley Browns

OK. So you’re sitting around having a nice family dinner. The phone rings. You drop your fork with that tasty lasagna on it and sprint to the phone.

“Hello,” you say

“Hi this is Dudley Brown,” says a greasy voice on the end of the line, “I’m the Grand Inquisitor of Rocky Mountain Gun Nuts of America. Senator Mc%#$@ wants to restrict your God-given right to hunt squirrels with hand grenades and if you’re as outraged about this….” Click.

A Senate bill is making its way through the legislature that would restrict this type of political activity via telephone. And some people are pretty mad about it.

Senate Bill 48, co-sponsored by Senator Keller and Rep. Buescher, aims to regulate political telephone solicitations made through the use of automated phone calls, often called Robo calls, and paid political solicitors by including those activities under existing restrictions designed to prevent commercial telemarketing activities.

And it’s causing consternation amongst local activists of all political stripes.

“This is just another example of politicians who regulate the activities of the rest of us and exempt themselves from its consequences,” said one Colorado GOP political consultant not named Dudley Brown. “It’s bad enough that we’ve had to deal with campaign finance reform, but now the establishment wants to prevent us playing at all.”

A Denver Democrat agreed:

“This is not good legislation. I hate Robo calls as much as anyone, but they are a result of it being harder and harder to get the word out without having piles of money behind you. The internet has made mass communicating cheaper and our elected officials respond by trying squeeze out grassroots communication, the very ones that need cheap communication.”

The Inside Edge has asked both Keller and Buescher to respond to concerns that elected officials are again exempting themselves from legislation that governs everyone else. In addition we’ve asked them to respond to the question whether the public interest is served if elected officials and “bona fide” candidates are the only ones allowed to contact voters regarding vital issues in this manner.

So far they haven’t responded but we’re sure any minute we’ll have to drop our lasagna for one of their calls.

“Hi this is Senator Keller calling you to ask for your support of SB48 that would prevent automated call from interrupting your dinner by anyone but me. If you….”

Click.

That’s our vote.