Page cheers crackdown on robo-calls, points finger at Kinder
Sam Page, the Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor, today applauded Attorney General Jay Nixon’s crackdown on illegal automated calls. 
Nixon, who, of course, is also running for governor, announced yesterday that, as the state top’s prosecutor, he sent a letter to 2,000 political committees, warning them to include proper disclosure on automated calls or risk prosecution.
Page, a state representative from Creve Coeur, was himself the target of anonymous “robo-calls” before last month’s primary.
In a statement sent this morning, Page blamed the calls on his general election opponent, incumbent Republican Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder, who, according to Page, “raised enough money to pay for robocalls and the messages were very similar to those in radio advertisements paid for by the Kinder campaign.”
More from Page’s statement:
Page’s campaign was attacked with robocalls in two ways. Some calls attacked Page’s voting record. But other, more despicable, calls led voters to believe the Page campaign itself was calling homes 10 or more times between midnight and 6 a.m. This ploy was used widely by Republicans in 2006 Congressional races.
Previously, a spokesman for Kinder denied involvement in the calls, saying the script “sounds like a Democratic robocall to me.”
Either way, Page backed Nixon’s effort to pursue violations of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, a federal law that gives state attorney generals specific enforcement authority.
“It’s dirty tricks like these that make voters lose faith in their politicians,” Page said. “Anyone impersonating another campaign should be punished harshly for such crass attempts to deceive voters.”
Page and Nixon are both idiots. There are no laws preventing POLITICAL phone calls without a disclaimer at the beginning. When McCain-Feingold was passed in 2002, Congress allowed the FCC to make exemptions to the disclaimer mandate within Section 227 of Title 47.
Guess what? The FCC decided to make such an exemption. Rule 64.1200 states:
(a) No person or entity may:
(2) Initiate any telephone call to any residential line using an artificial or prerecorded voice to deliver a message without the prior express consent of the called party, unless the call,
(ii) Is not made for a commercial purpose
Since political campaign calls are not made for commercial purposes, they is exempt from FCC regulations. That means, unless a state passes a specific requirement (which Missouri has not), political phone calls don’t need to identify themselves.
So Jay, great job wasting 2,000 pieces of paper, envelopes and the postage it took to mail them - quite a way to highlight your stewardship of taxpayer money.
If you don’t believe me, you can call up the Ethics Commission and they’ll tell you I’m right - because it’s a free speech issue. Interestingly, Sen. Diane Feinstein (D-CA) introduced S.2624 in February which would put in place in identification requirements for the start of every phone call. Currently, it’s sitting in her Committee on Rules and Administration.