[djrogers]

Why would you expect them to be responsible with money that isn't theirs?

Your argument would work for an individual, and to a lesser extent a corporation (where money spent comes out of profit and would be balanced against benefit), but the government plays with your money - not their own.

If they want to get into a hundred phones, they'll just ask congress for an appropriation for $100m. And since the government is one of its own largest lobbyists, it'll happen.

[Joof]

They don't have unlimited money. If they can bring it down to $1000 per phone to crack, they still can't crack millions of phones without wondering why their budget is allocated this way.