The original mission to Afghanistan was to punish the Taliban and Al-Qaeda for the attacks of 9/11/2001. When that mission was partially committed to by the W administration, it had very modest success. The lack of success apparently caused the President to change the mission to nation building; extraordinary mission creep. That creep cost us the justification for our presence in Afghanistan.

Indicate which proposals you support (if any) for balancing the federal budget.

In order to balance the budget,

The federal budget deficit is a problem, was a problem even as the Bush admin turned the budget surplus it inherited into deficit spending.

You can not save your way out of a recession, see: Europe today and the USA in 1937. The federal government has the most capacity to stimulate the economy. Unfortunately, the debt was already large when the great recession started in December of 2007. The deficit will continue to grow until such time that the economy is confirmed to have been recovered for a period of at least one year.

Public candidate campaign contributions, direct or indirect, need be public information, at a minimum.

A life sentence, without parole, is preferred.

Smart, oft audited, government spending is a priority, but incumbent legislators haven't demonstrated that capacity for decades. Appropriate revenue is also essential, and most recently lacking plausibility.

Recently TX state govt refused more than $850 million in federal funds, because someone attached an amendment requiring the state to use the money only for public education. I'm a parent of a public school student and found the inability to accept such simple requirements to be, at least, disappointing; unfortunately, not surprising.

Providing guidelines and oversight of health, safety and environmental standards is a govt responsibility.

I do support training, certification, licensing and registration of firearms; similar to the other type of machine that kills tens of thousands of Americans every year: the automobile.

I would prefer single-payer, medicare for all, health care to the ACA.

Everyone in the USA today is an immigrant, or descended from immigrants, and we should figure out how to deal with legal and illegal immigrants more graciously.

I support marriage equality.

Targeting suspected terrorists, outside of official theater, should go through the appropriate law enforcement, military and/or espionage agency every time. We should demonstrate high ethical standards in pursuing accused national or international criminals that are terror suspects.

Work with the Green Revolutionaries, and other Iranians, who are ready for their country to be able to participate freely with the rest of the countries of the world.

Pensions and personal savings are likely to be invested in retirement accounts. Social Security needs to be sufficiently different so that all funds are not able to be adversely affected simultaneously.

Spending

Indicate what federal spending levels (#1-6) you support for the following general categories. Select one number per category; you can use a number more than once.

Taxes

Indicate what federal tax levels (#1-6) you support for the following general categories. Select one number per category; you can use a number more than once.

The current legislature is not accomplishing anything, because there is no longer bi-partisan cooperation.

There is serious common-carrier infrastructure maintenance and replacement work needing to be done, including: roads, bridges, water, sewer, communication and electrical power distribution.

It is essential to invest in the future, continuing the work of previous generations, improving potential and possibilities for all in these United States.