If they are conducting phone traffic analysis, why are there illegal telemarketers?

[Thor_MN]

To me, the most practical application of broad analysis of phone records would be to find and destroy telemarketers. There would be a concrete return on investment. Yet I keep getting "there is no problem with your account" phone calls...

[Warpy]

1. Uhhhh...

[Brother Buzz]

2. Did it ever occur to you, the spooks are the ones making the calls just to shore up the loose facts?

Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they aren't after you

[cherokeeprogressive]

3. The telemarketers are government SPOOKS.

In fact, I had one ask just the other day... "How do you feel about paying taxes? Do you feel you're taxed too much? Have you been out of the country lately?"

There was a strange cyclical beep in the background, but I didn't know what it was...

[backscatter712]

4. Where's the money in that?

It's far more profitable to promote corporate interests, instead of cracking down on them.

[wandy]

11. We have a bingo!

[kenny blankenship]

5. Why don't they uncork all the phone calls or at least emails floating around Wall St.

in the period leading up to the Great Financial BooBoo? We could get to the bottom of that supposedly impenetrably tangled mess pretty quickly with evidence of intent to mislead regulators, defraud clients and shaft stockholders.

I don't know why they haven't been asked to, exactly, but I know they wouldn't do that - or would resist it bitterly. (Ratting on a brother corporation is bad form)

[scarletwoman]

6. Because they're not conducting the surveillance to HELP you, citizen. (nt)

[Incitatus]

7. Perhaps it would be a waste of time and a distration to go after them

Eliminating illegal telemarketers is not their goal and the telemarketers are not an obstacle to what they are doing.

[jeff47]

8. Because the illegal telemarketers are calling via Canada.

Thus the call comes from outside US jurisdiction, but within the US phone system (Canada and the US share the same phone system).

If it makes you feel any better, Canadians get illegal telemarketers calling via the US.

[Warren Stupidity]

9. The catalog of inanity continues.

It's wrong, very wrong, wrong when bush was doing it and wrong now.

[Thor_MN]

10. Of course it's wrong, Skippy.

But trying to stifle any conversation about it just as wrong. Lighten up, Francis.