Congress has a plan to protect your hearing (!?)

Our lawmakers in Washington don’t agree on much these days. But one issue is sailing through both houses of Congress with a shocking wave of bipartisan support: the CALM Act.

CALM stands for “Commercial Advertisement Loudness Mitigation.”

Now here it is in everyday English: Turn down the volume on TV ads.

We’ve got an unemployment crisis, terrorism is a constant threat, the mortgage market is melting down. But all that will have to wait, because our elected representatives finally found something they can agree on. TV ads are too loud.

And according to one congressman, it’s a health issue.

Representative Bruce Braley told the Iowa Independent that the legislation will provide “relief from blaring television ads, which can disproportionately affect or cause hearing damage for Iowa’s seniors.”

I think just about everyone dislikes commercials that spike the volume enough to rattle the windows. But hearing damage? Are there really documented cases of hearing damage?

Well, even if there are, our lawmakers should CALM down and devote their full attention to the problems that have monumental importance in our lives.

I can handle the mute button on my own. (But I could use a little help shutting up the FDA…)

Source:
“Grassley speaks out against loud TV ads” Jason Hancock, Iowa Independent, 12/16/09, iowaindependent.com