Turn down the noise

No, health care reform is not the most pressing issue facing the U.S. Congress.

Neither is propping up the economy, or terrorism or global warming.

It's the ads on TV that are too loud.

You heard me correctly, and I didn't have to say it that loudly by PUTTING IT IN CAPITAL LETTERS!

I'm really tired of TV ads yelling at me.

As I advance through my middle years I admit that I don't hear as well as I used to. But I don't need the extra volume of a television ad that's trying to sell me a car, a high cholesterol medication or an adult diaper.

It's seems everyone is shouting like Billy Mays, God rest his loud-mouthed soul.

The issue has been around for a while, but -- maybe it's just me -- but the problem seems more pronounced now that we've gone digital. Analog was loud and annoying; digital seems more piercingly loud and annoying, it seems to me.

Congress is finally addressing this issue of national importance.

In mid-December the House on a voice vote passed a measure that requires the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to enforce federal regulations requiring that television advertisements not be excessively noisy.

The measure was written by Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., after discovering it was a long-standing common complaint with the FCC.

Commercials would have to be aired at the same volume level as the programs they accompany.

Eshoo calls her legislation the Commercial Advertisement Loudness Mitigation Act -- CALM, for short. Gotta love it.

While I'm safe and sound at home -- cocooned somewhat from terrorism, health care woes and global warming -- I don't want to be assaulted by another means.

You can get your point across without screaming.