1. Follow the Constitution (restore Congress as the sole authority in making War and creating Laws, and protect the individual Liberties guaranteed by the Constitution and the Amendments.)

2. End the Iraq War (bring the troops home Now.)

3. No Amnesty for Illegal Immigrants & promote a policy that creates jobs for US Citizens first, protects American businesses, and keeps jobs in the USA.

Q. How would you rate the performance of the House of Representatives: excellent, good, fair or poor? Why?

POOR: The Democratically-controlled House has not been able to bring the troops home, although they were elected to a majority to do just this. Furthermore, the Civil Liberties of Americans continue to be violated with laws that violate the Constitution, such as the Patriot Act and NSA Warrantless Wiretapping. The Democrats continue to fund the illegal Iraq War while failing to make repairs to our own economy, which is seen in our failing dollar, astronomical oil prices, and a housing crisis that has dragged on into a 3rd year.

Q. Do you have a timeline on when the U.S. should pull out of Iraq?

Yes, NOW. We should pull our trooops out as quickly as possible in a manner that is safe for our forces and Americans on the ground there. Staying there for the purpose of making sure that one faction or another doesn't get too much power is called nation-building, and we should not be party to this. It was a mistake to go in, and now the War Hawks are furthering their profiteering off the Military Industrial Complex by telling us we can't leave. The Locofocos have bought into this mindset, and create numerous excuses why we can't leave. When we left Vietnam, the Vietnamese ruled themselves without incident. The same will happen in Iraq. Just as Benjamin Franklin once said of our country, they have 'a Republic, if [they] can keep it.'

Q. How should the government pay for the War on Terror and is it working?

The War on Terror is not working. You cannot make war on a concept. All we are doing is policing the world, and this simply helps to spread the American Empire while antagonizing the populations of the countries we infiltrate. This is what led to 9⁄11 in the first place, and we are continuing the same failed policy. What we need is better intelligence. We had intelligence that would have tipped us off to 9⁄11, but unfortunately, the Bush Administration was too incompetent to process it properly. Our government failed to act on the intelligence they had, on this occasion as well as many in the past. We need a more comprehensive, ethnically diverse, and intiuitive intelligence network that doesn't overlook critical details such as this. Instead, we find ourselves policing a civil war in Iraq fuelled by medieval ideologies. We need an Administration that is transparent and honest with the people. What we don't need is more tanks, guns, and bombs. The Cold War is over. The new war will be fought with diplomacy and trade--a war in which we have set ourselves up to lose. I want to invest in our infrastructure, make sure that every US Citizen can get a job, and improve our world image. THAT is how you defeat global terror.

Q. Would you make any changes to the way the Department of Homeland Security is run?

Yes, I would eliminate the Department of Homeland Security. It is a redundant organization that does not bring any new functionality. It creates numerous highly-paid, cabinet-level jobs that justify themselves with meaningless propaganda schemes. The terror threat level should never be changed because of someone's 'gut feeling.' After 9⁄11 the public transportation system was crawling with armed police officers. Today, there are almost none to be seen. All the TSA serves to do is take people's bottled water and nailclippers, but it has not foiled a single terrorist attempt. DHS merely embeds itself as another level of bureacracy that increases our tax burden without offering us anything in return. DHS should be eliminated.

Q. What should be done to reform Social Security, Medicare?

These are the remnants of New Deal programs, which were created to give Americans some stability to survive the Great Depression. These should have been ended long ago. People who have paid into the programs should be allowed to get their benefits and⁄or get their money back. However, going forward, the programs should be terminated. People who want to should be able to purchase private insurance plans, invest in in IRA's, or save their money as they see fit. The idea that the people should trust government to take care of them from cradle to grave is preposterous. The government can't manage its own money without running a trillion-dollar deficit, which is why we are in a bind now. The only solution is to raise taxes, which I am strongly against. Social Security was never intended to be a retirement plan, although many view it that way. Basically, people who pay into a system want to be certain they will get out what they put in. I say do just that, and let people use their own judgement in how to spend their money. Hospitals that are run at a profit can take care of indigent persons as an act of charity. I recommnend putting the burden of healthcare on the business that provides the service--not on the backs of the taxpayers.

Q. Should SCHIP be expanded? If yes, how would you pay for an expansion? If no, how would you ensure that people who need health and dental care get it?

No, SCHIP should not be expanded. Indigent persons should have healthcare and dental care provided by the institutions they attend. No person dying of a critical ailment should ever be turned away because an insurance company will not cover their case. The problem is that SCHIP and all other attempts at Universal Healthcare fatten the wallets of insurance companies by raising taxes on American Citizens. The Citizen is never asked if he consents to this tax. It is taken involuntarily. I firmly believe that those who wish to give charitably, including the hospital providing care, should be able to do so. But it is tyrannical of a government to tax its people without their consent.

Q. What is your position on the death penalty?

I believe the death penalty is necessary to eliminate people who pose a threat to society, as evidenced by a pattern of violent, dangerous, and incorrigible behavior. Without a death penalty, these people could return to society at some point to commit futher crimes, as can be seen in recent high-visibility cases. Unfortunately, the death penalty has been disproportionatley applied to minorities and low-income populations, and so I support a moratorium on the death penalty, save that juries can prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that a person is guilty of crimes in such a pattern that warrant execution. All paths to prove a suspect's innocence (including DNA evidence) should be considered, and old cases should be re-opened to consider this evidence.

Q. What is your position on abortion?

The fetus growing within a mother is dependent on that mother for life. For her to cut off the support provided by her body is to sentence the fetus to death. There would be a public outcry if someone left a dog in a room without food or water to die, let alone shot it or threw it off a bridge. We give more respect to dogs than to developing human lives. We are a society of hyppocrites. I value all life, but most importantly, I value human life. Therefore, I am Pro-Life.

Q. Do you support same-sex marriage?

Marriage is a Sacrament of the Church. The Church in question should determine who can and cannot get married. The government has no business involving itself in affairs of the Church. When the government does so, it violates Free Speech and the Non-Establishment clause of the First Amendment. The government should not sanction any marriage at all, heterosexual or homosexual. Therefore, I am against same-sex marriage.

Q. Do you support the federal No Child Left Behind law?

No Child Left Behind is full of bad policy, and reflects the problems with the Federal Government trying to get involved with Education. I want to eliminate the Department of Education, and this law with it. NCLB puts far too much emphasis on standaradized testing, so that teachers only have time to 'teach the test.' In addition, it penalizes schools that underperform, rather than focusing more effort where help is actually needed. I am against No Child Left Behind.

Q. What, if anything, should be done to assist homeowners at risk of losing their homes because of adjustable rate loans?

Homeowners facing a balloon payment from an ARM should re-finance into a fixed-rate loan. This is how ARM's are structured. The Federal Government should not be involved in a bailout, nor should there be a freeze on interest rates. The underlying problem is not the ballooning payments, but the fact that homeowners cannot sell their homes. The housing market is so bad, largely because the economy is in very poor condition. The government can fix this problem by increasing consumer confidence and promoting policies which encourage people to buy houses again, rather than sitting on their investment capital. Right now, investors are playing it safe by limiting what they buy until they know their investments won't be lost, which is causing a recession. One way to fix this is to introduce competing investments--Treasury Notes and Bonds that offer a return on investment similar to or better than that offered by CD's--which would increase investment, benefit the economy, and offer an alternative to the housing market. In WWI and WWII, there were agressive campaigns to encourage people to buy War Bonds. Although we are told we are at war, we do not see the same kind of investment these days.

Q. Should slots be allowed in Prince George's County? Should there be any form of gambling at National Harbor?

Maryland already has gambling in the form of the Lottery. Gambling is also found in Dsitrict 4 at Rosecroft Raceway. The only issue at hand is the possible question of increased crime, which can be controlled with increased security. Allowing Casinos to come to the National Harbor would increase revenues greatly. Slots are nice--but full-fledged Casinos should also be allowed. Then, people would not have to travel hundreds of miles to West Virginia or New Jersey to gamble, and the revenues would stay in Maryland.

Q. Who should bear the costs of the changes wrought by BRAC?

The concept behind BRAC is to save money by closing bases and re-aligning their assets. Therefore, a surplus should be seen as a result. Any up-front or immediate costs should be borne by the Federal Government, since it affects their operations. However, the Federal Government should not be held responsible for finding jobs for people who used to work on the bases, or re-vitalizing an area economically because the closure of the base has resulted in a loss in business revenues.

Q. What state transportation projects are a priority and how should we pay for them?

I support continued work on the Purple Line, preferably as an add-on to the Metro system, which would connect Georgetown, Montgomery County, UMD, and New Carrolton. Metro should work on new ways to reduce costs, expand its hours, and increase reliability. Increasing Metro ridership is key to reducing our reliance on fossil fuels, and as such is a National Security concern.

SPOTTED^®: pHOTO gALLERIES

You Spotted™