A simpler task for Congress

Sometimes we ask a lot of Congress: fix the national health-care system, monitor wars around the world, ratify world treaties, correct problems in the financial industry, to name a few.

Sometimes all we want from our representatives is something simpler (although closer to home): Turn down the volume on television ads.

That’s right — one of the vexing problems of the television age is actually on the agenda for Congress.

Legislation that passed the House and is being considered in the Senate would help apply a legislative mute button to overly loud TV commercials.

The legislation would require that the peak volume of commercials match the peak volume of the segment airing just before it.

Currently commercials can be as loud as the peak sound level for all programming. That means that if you’re watching a show with quiet moments, commercial breaks intrude at the volume of jet planes taking off or bombs exploding.

Let’s hope a simple act of Congress can actually turn down the sound and make television viewing a little less annoying for all of us.

ONE PLACE the volume never seems to go down is in local politics, but that doesn’t mean there has to be any rancor in the exchange of opinions that is typically heard at city council meetings.

It looks like Mayor Tammi Fisher and the new Kalispell City Council got off to a good start this week in setting the right tone for the coming year. Fisher was sworn in by outgoing Mayor Pam Kennedy Carbonari, and then hit the ground running, with promises of cooperation on all sides.

Despite past practice and the city code, Fisher decided to hold an open ballot for council president, in keeping with the state’s open-meeting laws. It was a promising start for the new mayor, and we hope that doing the public’s business in public will continue to be the standard for this council, and all government agencies in the area.