The new "Do not Text" law does not apply to political solicitations. It should.

 by Rod Williams, June 22, 2023- The new "do not text" law goes into effect on July 1, which is designed to protect Tennessee residential consumers from unwanted text messages. Consumers who have registered their phone number on the Tennessee Do Not Call list will automatically be covered under the Do Not Text program. No additional action is required for individuals already participating in the Do Not Call program.  If you want to register, click here for the Do Not Call/Text registry. 

I thought I was registered but maybe not.  I receive lots of calls that my phone tell me are "scam likely" and I simply do not answer those calls. However, some do not get tagged as scam calls and I answer them. One type of call is the Medicare scam. Some guy in a lilting Indian accent will say, "Mr Williams, I am ...... with ..... and I am calling about your back pain." "You are entitled to a free back brace from Medicare and ...." Or he is calling about my supply of free diabetes test strips.  I don't have back pain or diabetes but a lot of people my age are.  A lot of people will take free stuff even if they don't need it and I am sure a lot of people think the calls are legitimate. I wonder how many people have unused back braces in their closet. I wonder how much Medicare is ripped off every month.

The other calls are someone wanting to know if I want to sale the little rental house I own or if I want to sale the house I live in. I don't.

Another category of calls is solicitations from non-profit charities or solicitations for political contributions.  I only get maybe two or three of these calls a week, but they clog my phone with text messages. Sometimes I block them, but it doesn't slow them down. Blocking does not work. Usually, I just delete them unread. 

Here is who has texted me for political contributions since yesterday: Marco Rubio; Tim Scott; Mike Pompeo; Kellyanne Conway; Majority Whip Tom Elder asking me to sign a petition to condemn the Trump witch hunt and give some money to the cause; another one from Mike Pompeo; another one from Tim Scott; another one again from Tim Scott; a private and secure message from Donald Trump; another one from Trump; Representative Eli Crane who is a Navy Seal, business man, and servant of God, asking me for money; another one that is political but I don't know who it is from; another one that starts, "Woke liberal mob spitting nails after 97% of Christians ...";  another one saying something about Hunter Biden; another one says "House Republicans introduced Articles of Impea..."; one from Mike Pence; one that says, "Enough! The radical left has si..."; one that says, "Poll: Do you support keeping the Bible in school libraries," 

This is all in one day. They do not get any money from me.  I have never given a dime in response to a phone text message. I almost never even open one and read it. 

Unfortunately, the new "Do not Text" law does not apply to political solicitations. It should. 

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