Many may think Tim Cox is three shovels short of a wheelbarrow load, but no matter what people believe he is determined to fire Congress.

Fire Congress..how on earth does one fire an entire elected body of government?

For Cox the answer is simple…vote ‘em all out of office.

Over the weekend I was reading a News & Observer article on Cox. The story contained a link to his website and I opted for an online visit. Here’s what I found.

Cox is a computer systems engineer. He became so frustrated with the American political system that he began an effort to fire Congress.

Cox believes that the underlying cause of every major problem can be attributed to self-serving politicians, puppets who have become slaves to their party, the special interest groups that fund them, and their own political career. He said they insist on doing what is politically correct, not what is right.

In an effort to evict what he calls “career politicians”, Cox founded GOOOH (“Get Out of Our House”). GOOOH is a non-partisan plan to evict the 435 career politicians in the U.S. House of Representatives and replace them with everyday Americans.

Cox claims that GOOOH is not another political party. He says it’s a system that will allow individuals to choose, among themselves, the person who can best represent their congressional district.

Through GOOOH’s Candidate Selection Sessions, a candidate in each congressional district who best represents the views of that district will be selected to run for that seat. GOOOH will fund a single national campaign to promote the 435 candidates (one from each district) who are selected to run against the party politicians.

Those interested in becoming a GOOOH candidate must declare their candidacy by March. Those candidates will be randomly assigned into pools of 10 participants within their congressional district. There will be as many pools as are needed in each district.

Pools will meet simultaneously at predetermined locations across the country on consecutive Saturday mornings. Each pool of participants will select two candidates to advance to the next round, via the GOOOH Selection Session process. Advancing candidates will be randomly assigned into a new pool within their district. Steps 2 and 3 will repeat until there are only 10 candidates remaining in each district. The final 10 candidates in each district will select a single nominee to represent their district and those 435 nominees will be placed on the November ballot to compete against the Republican and Democratic politicians. The campaign for each of the candidates will be orchestrated by the system, which will provide all necessary funding.

GOOOH defines how the people of each of the 435 congressional districts can identify and then select a true representative—they must only participate. It severs the financial ties with special interest groups, eliminates party affiliation, and terminates the career of career-politicians.

Whether or not a person buys in to Cox’s ideals and plans is totally up to that individual. But we, as American citizens who are registered to vote, do have the power to fire Congress. Their political careers, their place on Capitol Hill is determined by a ballot box.

If you prefer the status quo, if you like the direction our country is heading, then let your vote support the incumbents seeking re-election. If you feel otherwise, select someone new…that’s the American way.

Cal Bryant is Editor of the Roanoke-Chowan News-Herald and Gates County Index. He can be reached at cal.bryant@r-cnews.com or 252-332-7207.