OnTheIssues interviews with presidential candidates: on Homeland Security

Paul Adams: Cut military spending by 50%

A: Make the military more efficient, but cut military spending by 50%. The hawks would have us believe we are defenseless. We have enough power to obliterate the entire planet six times over.

Marc Allan Feldman: We cannot afford to be the policeman of the world

A: Strongly oppose. Adm. Mullen, former head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said that the number one threat to our national security is our national debt. A debtor nation is not a free nation. It is wrong that our spending on the military is more that so many other nations combined. We cannot afford to be, nor should we want to be, the policeman of the world. President Eisenhower warned of the terrible danger to freedom by the influence of the military-industrial complex. We must heed his warning.

Mark Stewart: I err on the side of more for the military

A: The Military is our first priority. That might not require more funding though. There are areas where we can spend less. Thousands of swarming, nimble fighter jets are probably more effective than three or four Joint-Strike fighters, and the cost is equivalent. We feed, house, train, and pay an abundance of soldiers abroad that are probably unnecessary. (There are eight US bases in Italy; there are 22 in Germany.) The 30,000 "man" DMZ is almost certainly over-bloated. Defense is the PRIMARY reason we form a government, for mutual protection. Defense, courts, and environmental protection are the only truly worthy federal functions, so we should give them their due. And because well-trained, bad-ass soldiers, and the willingness to use them if necessary just may deter bad foreign actors, I err on the side of more for the military.

Jim Hedges: Don't expand the military

A: no

Jill Stein: Military-industrial complex shows woes of privatization

Stein: [We've tried privatization] in everything from prisons to the military--the military-industrial complex is a poster child against privatization--where contractors' needs become the prime mover of the budget.

OnTheIssues: I think you mean such as how in Iraq, support functions such as transportation and meals were provided by private contractors, while in Vietnam and earlier , those same functions were performed by uniformed soldiers, and that the numbers of soldiers were hence artificially reduced?

Stein: I agree completely

Jill Stein: Disarm North Korea as part of worldwide nuclear disarmament

Stein: That's a complicated problem in a society that has many issues and struggles but that also includes Korea's history of violence and imperialism, from both Japan and the US. There is a history of incredible distrust and aggression--it's important to understand that.

OnTheIssues: And what about their nuclear capability?

Stein: To build a nuclear free world--we've been addressing non-proliferation for a long time without address nuclear disarmament. Non-proliferation was supposed to be a phase through which we passed on the way to nuclear disarmament. They see nuclear weapons as essential, from their viewpoint, to defend their sovereignty.

OnTheIssues: So you mean we should lead by example?

Stein: We should lead by virtue of global agreements that also include us. We could get rid of MANY nukes as a first step because we're so far ahead [in possessing more nuclear weapons than the rest of the world].

Jill Stein: Edward Snowden is a hero for exposing mass spying

Stein: Hero ; he has done the American people an incredible service by exposing the violations of the Constitution that have been perpetrated on us--which was taken very seriously around the world, where he has been vindicated. The kind of spying going on has not been protecting us--not one instance of a terrorist plot was found by these abuses--none, by mass spying. They initially claimed dozens of cases but it was found tat there were no none, in a Congressional investigation. Snowden should be treated as a hero---efforts to harass him and prosecute him should be declared over and done with. Charges should not be brought against him, and he should return with hero status--he could improve our national security if he were working for us

Jill Stein: Bring troops home from 800 bases abroad

Stein: Foreign relations would be a whole lot more predictable if done by the Stein Doctrine, than when done by the current policy of military domination. For an example of a specific application, we need to bring troops home from 800 bases abroad.

Robert Steele: ISIS and al Qaeda are joint creations of Saudi Arabia & CIA

A: ISIS was created by Saudi Arabia, has been trained by the CIA and armed by the Pentagon, and is a direct result of our intervention in Iraq that was itself rooted in 925 now clearly documented lies. Al Qaeda is a joint creation of Saudi Arabia and the CIA.

Q: What should be done about that?

A: We should close all of our military bases and withdraw all of our military forces around the world, bringing them home to their families and bringing their wallets home to our economy as well. We need a strategic pause to clean house at home: install an honest government; devise a strategy of peace, friendship, and commerce (I cite Ron Paul); and focus on the well-being of the American public, not the well-being of predatory banks and US-based merchants of death.

Roseanne Barr: Strongly opposed enactment of PATRIOT Act

Q: Strongly oppose the enactment of that law

Roseanne Barr: Opposes expanding the armed forces

Q: Oppose

Virgil Goode: Patriot Act harm civil liberties for U.S. Citizens

A: Yes for U.S. Citizens.

Virgil Goode: No funds to expand armed forces now

A: No funds available now.

David Walker: Reform Patriot Act; it harms civil liberties

A: Yes, it does.

Q: Should it be repealed?

A: Retain it, but it needs reform.

David Walker: Change force structure for new types of conflicts

A: No.

Q: Would you cut the defense budget?

A: We should cut defense spending and contain it. And we can do so without compromising national security. We need to restructure because the types of conflicts we're likely to have in the future are different than in the past, and that effects your force structure, footprint, weapons systems, etc.

Rocky Anderson: The Patriot Act harms civil liberties

A: Strongly Support

Rocky Anderson: Opposes expanding the armed forces

A: Strongly Oppose

Andre Barnett: The Patriot Act harms civil liberties

A: Agree.

Robert Steele: War is a racket: Phase out all overseas bases

• "War is a racket." General Smedley Butler USMC said this, and it is true.
• For one third of what we spend on war, we can create a prosperous world at peace
• The US and other members of the UN Security Council are the warmongers of the planet
• The UN is not a serious organization--it lacks intelligence and integrity. Fix it or dump it.
• Create a strong smart military, not the bloated weak military we have now--honor the infantry--4% of the force (the infantry) takes 80% of the casualties but receives less than 4% of the budget--that needs to go up to 20% while dispensing with all the big systems that are not needed, badly designed, and unaffordable
• Phase out all of our overseas bases while creating a 450-ship Navy and long-haul Air Force
• Redirect one third of the defense budget toward waging peace
• End all support to all dictators (over 40 of them)--create a buy-out plan favoring democracy

Robert Steele: Shut down Dept. of Homeland Security & Cyber-Command

• The Department of Homeland Security is an abomination and should be shut down
• Ron Paul has it right--we create many of our own problems by federal misbehavior
• Citizen Intelligence Networks at local and state level, relying on open sources of information, are best means of achieving local situational awareness & resilience
• Northern Command & Cyber-Command should be shut down--both are incompetent and outrageously expensive as well as incompatible with the concept of good governance

Robert Steele: The Patriot Act harms civil liberties

A: Strongly Support. The Patriot Act was not even read by our corrupt Congress, and is long over-due for being slammed down along with the provisions of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that permit the incarceration and even the murder of US citizens by the military without due process. The federal government is out of control and lacking in both intelligence and integrity.

Gary Johnson: Allies want more US military spending, but cut by 43%

JL Mealer: Oppose the Patriot Act; but support profiling

A: SUPPORT, unconstitutional, although profiling works for any security group to observe and question a potential terrorist or drug dealer or child molester or human trafficker , unless we want to clean up dead bodies and can suddenly heal the pains. DHS needs revisions, Patriot Act extensively refined

JL Mealer: Expand armed forces programs

A: SUPPORT, expand armed forces programs to re-patriot into useful public sector training as well.

Scott Keller: Wire tapping is a huge invasion of privacy

A: Agree. We need to be addressing the root causes of things such as terrorism, so that considering things like the Patriot Act becomes nonsense. The authorization of wire tapping, for example, without due cause, is a huge invasion of privacy to law abiding citizens and gives the central government too much power.

Scott Keller: Expand armed forces with shifted focus

A: Support with qualifications. We need to shift our military's focus. We need to bring all non-treaty troops home immediately, and stop seeking to control oil supplies when we could be completely free of oil in a couple of years. The military needs to be strong, but the focus needs to be on helping people not killing and conquests.

Scott Keller: Expand the military in smart directions

• Let's expand the armed forces by expanding our educational process, by completely reforming the armed forces and repurposing them for global peace and charity work.
• Let's expand the armed forces by designing next generation super helicopters i autocad.
• Let's bring the troops home and let's quit trying to be the global bully and go back to being the global diplomat.
• We propose arcologies as the new form of USA Embassy; food, shelter, clothing, housing, education, employment, for one million people.
• Soup Kitchens and schools. Food not bombs.
• Expand the military in smart directions rather than contract the military in stupid directions.
• "Expand the armed forces" can mean a lot of different things. Expand them how?
• They need better armor, better support services, better intelligence, and fewer targets...
• We favor real expansion of the armed forces in assorted evolutionary directions.

Brian Moore: Close down all foreign military bases

We will also close down all foreign military bases and abolish the CIA and NSA. We stand for unconditional disarmament, outlawing all nuclear power and weapons of mass destruction and end U.S. arms sales.

Brian Moore: Close down the DHS and repeal the Patriot Act

Brian Moore: Reduce terrorist threat by ending foreign exploitation