Reply #51: I have 2 nephews who ended up in jail over pot, coke, and illegal guns.

[JoePhilly]

Now ... I do not equate those 3 things. I'd be fine if POT was legal.

But it is not. And the effort to change that would require a shift in focus away from about 50 other priorities, including jobs and the economy.

Now ... you want to equate the money spent here against another specific item ... in doing so, you echo Eric Cantor, who says that money spent to recover from this storm (Irene), needs spending offsets in other places.

What you and Eric miss, is that the federal budget, and its prioritize have 100s of items. And so, while you want to trade off one of these against the other, there are HUNDREDS of others that are part of that discussion.

And most of those trade offs need congressional support.