>>>>>>On the surface this sounds like a good idea - but have you noticed the crisis in California as a result of these mandatory minimums and 3 strikes rules?
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>>>>>
>>>>>I think Cali has more issues that just this. Y'all are paying for illegals to have kids, paying for their education, maintenance, etc too. My plan would not cost after the state took the prisoners as "property" because they would work and pay for their own keep.
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>>>>Oh of course - slave labor! Brilliant - that should solve the drug problem!
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>>>I like to think of it more in terms of removing a cancer.If they haven't "gotten it" after 10 convictions ,they never will. Personally, I would rather feed the fish with them, but ....
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>>Ok then lets remove the cancer. Perhaps it would be best to legalize marijuana and use the tax dollars it generates to address the actual reasons behind all those convictions? ...unless of course all these convictions were from victimless drug possession cases - then the problem fixes itself. The real cancer seems to be the law itself - which does more harm that good.
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>I see that bastion of integrity, Barney Frank, and that bastion of lunacy, Ron Paul, are pushing legalizing pot. To quote Rush Limbaugh, "I hope they fail."

What has Barney Frank done that you feel lacks integrity? Or are you just irritated at him for being homosexual?

Here is my latest entry in the "Is this a great country or what?" category. My next door neighbor is a Polish immigrant, 50-ish, who speaks very broken English. He has been upgrading his garage and I helped him excavate its contents temporarily. One of the items was a Ron Paul campaign sign. That made me smile.

You would feel right at home where I live. It is not rabidly conservative but solidly Republican in an amiable way. In the last election the incumbent U.S. Rep., a very slightly left of center Democrat, was defeated by a Tea Party guy.