VOID Pres. Radio Interview

We wish to express a heartfelt thank you to Douglas Watts, host of the Rhino Show, for his support and this interview and publicity exposure.

Below are some of the notes made by David Remer in preparation for the half hour interview, most of which were included in the interview.

About Vote Out Incumbents Democracy

1. Purpose: The VOTE: The primary purpose of the vote has always been to remove incumbents from office. Without the people's vote, Politicians, and anyone in power, will keep themselves in power. Therefore, the vote's primary and original purpose is to remove those in power, from power, without having to fight a civil or revolutionary war to do it, when voters are not happy with the actions of their government. (Iran example)

2. Mission: Our mission is to force Congress to represent the American people and our nation's future for our children, instead of the wealthy special interests and corporate lobbyists. The only way to do that, is by the voters re-asserting their power to fire those in Congress, whose tenure leaves voters disapproving of Congress' results. Voting out incumbents is the way to reestablish democracy of, by, and for the people. Hence the name, Vote Out Incumbents Democracy or, VOID, for short.

3. Strategy. Our strategy is simple. Explain our mission, which sells itself. We are now embarking on creating VOID organizations in each state and metropolitan area to rally dissatisfied voters to take that brave step to vote for a challenger, instead of a Congressperson seeking reelection.

4. Objective. VOID's objective is to bring about a federal election in which 50% or more of both Democratic and Republican incumbents, seeking reelection, lose to challengers. With this objective reached, the remaining incumbents as well as the newly elected challengers will get the unmistakable message, they have a new boss - the voters. Their old boss, the special interest lobbyists no longer hold the keys to their reelection.

5. Rationale and success. Only when voters hold their own politicians responsible on election day for their disapproval of Congress, will Congress begin to change the way it does things.

6. Success will be marked by our Congress investing our nation's resources in a better future, instead of squandering our resources on a future none of us want to live in. Success will be marked by a fiscal responsibility that leaves our grandchildren more, not less, of what they will work to earn.
Success will be marked by our nation remaining the most powerful leader in the world; acting, strong, confident, and with good purposes. Not by acting fearful, scared, and defensively toward those who envy our great potential.
Success will be marked by politicians demanding the best of each other, as a result of their giving the best of themselves, because the voters will accept nothing less.

Term Limits Example:

VOID doesn't take a stand on term limits for one very elementary reason. The incumbents in congress would have to pass the term limits legislation, and they, as a majority, do not wish to do that. That would be cutting their own political and self interested throats.

Therefore, the only path to term limits is through sheer anti-incumbent voter force. If voters want term limits, they must first vote out the incumbents who refuse to pass term limits, as well as their own incumbents who are ineffective in bringing them to pass.
Reforms

Reforms won't happen with incumbents being reelected for doing the same things they have always done. They do things we don't approve of, and we reelect them at a rate of 90% or more per election. Where is their incentive or motive to change the way they do things? They cater to the wealthy corporate and individual lobbyists and donors, because the voters reelect 90% of them when they do.

Voters will continue to be disappointed with Congress and hold a low approval of them as long as they reelect the same representatives over and over again. If however, more and more millions of voters vote for a challenger instead, one from their own party in the primary election, or one from another party in the general election, a critical mass will be reached wherein the reelection rate will drop from 90+ percent to 60% or 50%. I guarantee the remaining incumbents and the new freshman coming in will have a complete change of mind as to who is controlling their reelection bid. Not the lobbyists and wealthy campaign donors anymore. The voters, the regular working people on the street, will become the people they need to please.

Voters who want:

• fiscal responsibility


• effective tax dollar management


• lower taxes


• voting reforms


• an end to bailouts for corporations (end to too big to fail)


• effective campaign finance reform


• effective immigration and border security policy

must be willing to remove the incumbents responsible for failing to address these issues. Your and my representative, are, at the very least, ineffective in bringing out these reforms and policy directions. That alone is justification for voting for their challenger in the next election.

Voter Education

We voters have to graduate from civics 101 to civics 401. We must acknowledge that our vote is powerless, if it can't remove powerful people from powerful offices. The core of the idea of democracy is that power shall rest with the people, NOT with those in government. If the power of a nation rests in a king, a dictator, or an inner-Congress like that in China which cannot be voted out, there is no democracy there, even if sham elections are held as in Iran recently. Only when the people exercise the power to remove those in power, when they don't like the direction their government is heading, does real democracy live and thrive. Everything else is just for show.

Less than 1 in 5 Americans approve of Congress' performance. 80% of voters who disapprove of Congress' performance, can't remove those incumbents responsible for Congress' actions. If 4 out 5 voters disapprove of Congress and can't remove more than 10% of them in any given election, then there is no real democracy in action here.

American voters want to believe their representatives. But, frankly, the last person anyone should listen to about who to vote for in an election, is their own incumbent running for reelection. One would have a better chance of getting the truth about a shiny lemon car from a used car salesman.

The Supreme Court ruled last year, I think it was, that politicians cannot be held legally responsible for lying to their constituents. That pretty much says it all about whether voters should be listening to their representatives at election time. They are after all, trying to sell you and me on paying their cushy salary for another 2 or 6 years. Just like the used car salesman is trying to sell you and I on paying their salary by buying shiny lemon on the lot.

Click here to listen to the Rhino Show interview.