Where do you stand on same-sex marriage?

Marriage is more than a personally rewarding social custom. It is also critical for the well-being of a civilization. That is why it is so important to preserve traditional marriage — the joining together of one man and one woman.

As president, Mitt will not only appoint an Attorney General who will defend the Defense of Marriage Act — a bipartisan law passed by Congress and signed by President Clinton — but he will also champion a Federal Marriage Amendment to the Constitution defining marriage as between one man and one woman.

What is your plan for Afghanistan?

Mitt Romney will never make national security decisions based upon electoral politics. Upon taking office, he will review our transition to the Afghan military by holding discussions with our commanders in the field.

He will order a full interagency assessment of our military and assistance presence in Afghanistan to determine the level required to secure our gains and to train Afghan forces to the point where they can protect the sovereignty of Afghanistan from the tyranny of the Taliban.

Withdrawal of U.S. forces from Afghanistan under a Romney administration will be based on conditions on the ground as assessed by our military commanders with the goal of completing the transition of combat operations to the Afghan Army by the end of 2014.

How do you plan to address the national debt?

Any turnaround must begin with clear and realistic goals. Optimistic projections cannot wish a problem away, they can only make it worse. As president, Mitt’s goal will be to bring federal spending below 20 percent of GDP by the end of his first term.

Any turnaround must also stop the bleeding and reverse the most recent and dramatic damage:

Most importantly, any turnaround must have a thoughtful, structured approach to achieving its goals. Mitt will attack the bloated budget from three angles:

“The Federal Government Should Stop Doing Things The American People Can’t Afford”; “Empower States To Innovate — Savings: >$100 billion”; and “Improve Efficiency And Effectiveness. Where the federal government should act, it must do a better job.”

How will you bolster the economy?

Mitt Romney will rebuild the foundations of the American economy on the principles of free enterprise, hard work, and innovation.

His plan seeks to reduce taxes, spending, regulation, and government programs. It seeks to increase trade, energy production, human capital, and labor flexibility. It relinquishes power to the states instead of claiming to have the solution to every problem.

Any American living through this economic crisis will immediately recognize the severity of the break that Mitt Romney proposes from our current course. He is calling for a fundamental change in Washington’s view of how economic growth and prosperity are achieved, how jobs are created, and how government can support these endeavors.

It is at once a deeply conservative return to policies that have served our nation well and a highly ambitious departure from the policies of our current leadership. In short, it is a plan to get America back to work.

What direction does America need to take for energy independence?

Mitt Romney will make America an energy superpower, rapidly and responsibly increasing our own production and partnering with our allies Canada and Mexico to achieve energy independence on this continent by 2020.

This will require genuine support for increased energy production, a more rational approach to regulation, and a government that facilitates private-sector-led development of new energy technologies by focusing on funding research and removing barriers, rather than chasing fads and picking winners and losers.

With tuition costs rising, what, if anything, needs to happen to address issues in paying for higher education?

As president, Mitt Romney will pursue genuine education reform that puts the interests of parents and students ahead of special interests and provides a chance for every child. He will take the unprecedented step of tying federal funds directly to dramatic reforms that expand parental choice, invest in innovation, and reward teachers for their results instead of their tenure.

These policies will equip state leaders to achieve the change that can only come from commitment and action at the local level.

He will also ensure that students have diverse and affordable options for higher education to give them the skills they need to succeed after graduation and that, when they graduate, they can find jobs that provide a rewarding return on their educational investment.

What should America’s role in the Middle East be in the future?

But the ongoing revolution is doubled edged, as the world has most vividly seen since the riots and attacks that occurred on American diplomatic facilities last month. The region is riven by tensions, and Iran and Islamist extremists are seeking to influence events and expand their control.

The future of democratic institutions in the region — and the security of the United States and its allies — hangs in the balance. Mitt Romney believes that the United States cannot be neutral about the outcome.

To protect our enduring national interests and to promote our ideals, a Romney administration will pursue a strategy of supporting groups and governments across the Middle East to advance the values of representative government, economic opportunity, and human rights, and opposing any extension of Iranian or jihadist influence.

The Romney administration will strive to ensure that the Arab Spring does not become an Arab Winter.

What changes would you make to America’s health care system?

On his first day in office, Mitt Romney will issue an executive order that paves the way for the federal government to issue Obamacare waivers to all fifty states.

He will then work with Congress to repeal the full legislation as quickly as possible.

In place of Obamacare, Mitt will pursue policies that give each state the power to craft a health care reform plan that is best for its own citizens.

The federal government’s role will be to help markets work by creating a level playing field for competition.

Mitt will begin by returning states to their proper place in charge of regulating local insurance markets and caring for the poor, uninsured, and chronically ill.

States will have both the incentive and the flexibility to experiment, learn from one another, and craft the approaches best suited to their own citizens.