I knew they would make sure this didn’t die, but I didn’t realize it would be this fast :

With remarkable speed and near unanimity, Congress on Thursday passed legislation intended to ensure consumers can block many unwanted telemarketing calls. But the courts still have the final say about whether the service takes effect as scheduled next week.

The House voted 412-8 and the senate 95-0 for a bill making clear that the Federal Trade Commission has the power to enforce the “do-not-call” list. President Bush said he looked forward to signing the measure.

“Unwanted telemarketing calls are intrusive, annoying and all too common,” he said in a statement. “The millions of people who have signed up for the list have the right to reduce unwanted telephone solicitations.”

So lemme get this straight : We have at least three million people out of work, homeless people dying in the streets, millions of children with no healthcare, underfunded homeland security, a national intelligence system that routinely drops the ball, and hundreds of people dying daily of preventable causes, but the only time both houses of congress can work together is when it’s to block something that’s annoying???