Akkam’s Razor

[This post will be updated as circumstances warrant.] 

Updated #2: Races identified, contractors identified: This dKos diary details what to do to fight the robocalls, this one has investigative data on the sources.]

Updated: Here's an audio example of a call from New York; here is also a link to indirect expenditures recorded with the FEC (Federal Elections Committee) by the NRCC (National Republican Congressional Committee).

They're actually from the Republicans.  Happy October November Suprise!  If you can't win the election fairly, just lie, cheat, and steal… [crossposted at PhillyFuture]:

Via TalkingPointsMemo:

More of the scam calls from the NRCC, from TPM Reader PS …

I was canvassing in Stamford, CT for Lamont and Farrel yesterday… some of the canvassers were talking about a nasty robocall hit on Farrell, which they said people at the doors had talked about. I didn't hear that at the door personally, but I wasn't focusing on the congressional race – i was talking about Lamont primarily.

Apparently the call starts with something along the lines of "Diane Farrell has some information for you," then pauses, waiting for annoyed people to hang up, and then delivers a negative message about Farrell. The canvassers say the call has hit some people as much as 6 times, and at 5 – 6am as well. Presumably, the intent is to annoy people and stick Farrell with the negative name ID as somebody who keeps robo-calling them.

We won't be able to get to the bottom of this operation until after Tuesday, which is the point. They'll happily pay the fines for breaking the federal regs on misidentifying calls.

Locally, Jill Porter, of the Philadelphia Daily News, has a chance for you to fight fire-with-fire:

You can complain to the FCC if you think the calls are illegal, as some Murphy supporters have done. (202-418-1440, phone; 202-418-0232, fax.)

Or you can do what I briefly considered yesterday: Send the NRCC your own robocalls telling it to STOP IT!

Try http://www.voiceshot.com/ – 12 cents a call, no minimum. The NRCC's number is 202-479-7000.

The real shame of all of this is that 1.) it works, 2.) it won't be newsworthy until the election is over,  and 3.) the facts and details won't come out until the election is over.

Use the "send to a friend" link at the top of the page, and spread this far and wide… More from MeFi, DailyKos, MyDD, FireDogLake, and others (Technorati for "robocalls")…

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