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Jake Towne was working overseas as a chemical engineer when he decided to come back home to Nazareth in Northampton County to do something about the bad direction he thought his country was taking.

Towne, who has no party affiliation, decided to challenge U.S. Rep. Charles W. Dent, a Lehigh County Republican, for the seat in the 15th Congressional District as a third-party candidate.

Bethlehem Mayor John B. Callahan, a Democrat, also is on the ballot.

One thing Towne promised to do if elected would be to end the nation-building the United States is doing in Iraq and Afghanistan.

“The cost of the wars is about one-third of the budget,” he explained. “I would not approve a single dollar to extend the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and would support immediate withdrawal.

“I believe it’s draining our country of economic resources. What we’re doing over there is detrimental to us as a nation.”

Towne said that as an engineer, his approach to problem solving is simple: Identify the problem, find the root cause and correct it.

That means government spending must be cut to control taxes and reduce the deficit, he said.

Ending the war, eliminating duplicative federal programs and moving some programs to the state level would be among the steps he would take to work in that direction, Towne said.

To increase accountability to the taxpayers, Towne would implement what he calls his open-door policy.

The policy would include giving his constituents a forum to comment on issues important to them, including the ability to tell him how to vote on proposed legislation or submit their own proposals.

He said he would allow people to summon him to a town hall meeting if they wish.

“I view our country as going into a crisis,” Towne said. “Almost anybody can do a better job than our current congressmen. If they’re so good, why is this country in such a huge mess?

“We need to look at why this has happened. We need to look at our laws and ask ourselves, ‘Does this encourage or discourage employment?’ If it doesn’t encourage employment, you remove it.”