If you could choose how your taxes were spent, what projects would you have the government complete?

Umm, in the USA the people DO choose how the taxes are spent.
At least the people who attend all those meetings.
The problem is, even tho every single citizen has the right to attend every single meeting, most do not.
So, a 'select few' determines how tax money is distributed.
Many people 'can't be bothered' by affairs of state then choose to complain instead.

I pay my water bill every month in person at city hall. Every meeting is posted in advance on their bulletin board. I don't attend but I really don't care how taxes are spent. I also do not complain about the government unless it directly affects me. Most of it doesn't.

Our system of government is broken. It has been broken for a very long time.
The only way to fix it would be to 'change all the monkeys' and have citizens take an active role in the decision making. But, that is not going to happen.
So we get the government we have and just complain about it.

Expenditures in all levels of government are public and can be viewed by any citizen. The general public has become complacent with the government.

Congress would work for free.

Ummm, in the USA people choose the people who decide what to spend the money on to a certain degree. But there is Federal, state, county, and city all of which has their budgets and rights to distribute certain money for certain things. They also have ways to collect, or borrow money in order to pay for whatever their agenda consists of. Maybe because you don't work for your money you don't feel that it "directly affects you"? But it does affect people who earn income in the amount of tax they pay, and also things we buy with sales tax. About 7 years ago my state had a spot on the ballot if you wanted to raise the sales tax one half of one percent for "clean water". For whatever reason the people voted it in and all the money goes to useless "art" projects, just another way for people to live off the system and not do their part. 1/2% may not seem like a lot of sales tax because its not on food and clothing, however whenever I buy a car new or used I have to pay my state sales tax and it adds up quickly.
I would agree that the system is broken and the monkeys need to be replaced, but clearly nobody is ever going to be able to drain the swamp with out destroying much if the structure of the country. The government is too big to fail. It would be nice to at least give back more power to the state and local governments while still keeping thing united.
The thing I would like to see is the money paid into gas tax goes to the roads, money paid for social security goes to that, and property tax goes toward police, fire, schools, and things needed at the local level. Viewing expenditures doesn't mean you have any control to change them. The government wants people to make more money because that means more taxes and more money to spend, however eventually the US government will have spent so much money that the US dollar will be devalued and useless.

Its not that Congress cost all that much to run, its that they make money else where do to their power and that causes them to make decisions that aren't always good for the common folks.

Before being disabled I did work for 35 years and I paid my taxes and still pay sales tax. The money I have now is based on the money taken from me in the form of a tax. I had no choice to pay or not. I did not work 'under the table'.
Try not to assume about me.

Just because I do not currently attend city hall meetings doesn't mean I have never. The first level of government is local city halls. Its the foundation closest to the actual people and all subsequent levels of government is supposed to be a culmination of the individual city hall level decisions.
The federal government is supposed to be the final level not the first.

The will of the citizens is recorded by state and the federal level is meant to be a consensus of all the citizen's state representations. States don't just pull laws and taxation out of thin air. County/Parrish feeds individual city hall votes to the state levels and that is relayed to the federal level.
At least that's how it is supposed to work but it doesn't.
We end up with Trump's America or Obama's America or Bush's, Clinton's you name a president. And the kicker is, we allow it because we are too busy to be bothered with these matters.

We elect people to represent our interests and they fail to do that but we do nothing about it but elect more people to run our house.
Its like hiring a butler to run your home and they come in and make a bunch of changes whether you want it that way or not. Then you go to the gym or the park or work and complain about it to other people in the same situation in their homes.

And the thing about it is its not just in the USA. The details might be different but its the same situation. People are complacent when it comes to government.

well my state is made up of all sorts of people ...
some for Biden some for Trump ... going to be interesting...even tho this is a red state and who pulls off their seats ... one seems on top holding on to the $ and giving to who may need it at the time ...others are mad about that ... but their is still unemployment becouse of the Virus ...and some have not reopen ... don't remember hearing if they got help to stay open ... I heard some say they started a fund drive ...so the police don't get defunded ... personally that will not happen ...I thought they are in Unions ... and others know all our energy will still be going ... although a owner of a coal mine just passed away an may he R.I.P ... family might take over or might be sold ... not hearing to much about it lately ... know one is going to take anything away from WV ... all our energies are very important ... and what is really cool ... they made a law for gays and lesbians...so they could get married ...that was sometime ago kinda in your face

Choosing is never going to happen.

The new administration, if Biden will almost bankrupt America.