Just say NO to the NC lottery!
North Carolina, the only east coast state without a lottery, is considering establishing one. This is a really bad idea. Not because of some vague, wishy-washy, red-state, BS morality... but because it would hurt people, including and especially the ones it's intended to help.
NC House Speaker, Jim Black, is pushing for quick passage of this bill because the state budget writers want to know if there will be lottery money available to alleviate the state's budget shortfall.
Wait just a second here! The lottery money is earmarked for school expenses. How can that alleviate the shortfall? You set the budget and then whatever comes in from the lottery goes to the schools, right?
Well, that's the big lie in state lotteries... Here's how it works:
The lottery money comes in and goes to the schools... then the schools' budget from other sources is reduced by the same amount... and that money is freed up to pay other state budget expenses. Sounds like no money from the lottery went to schools at all, doesn't it?
Well, it gets worse... since the schools have a protected source of money, the legislature will feel perfectly free to cut the school budget from year to year. This is completely absurd and irresponsible, but it's also what has happened in states that already have a lottery.
So there's victim number 1: Our children.
Who else is victimized? Well, the poor for one. It's not just that the lottery taxes rich and poor the same... it's that the lottery is targeted at the poor.
I lived in a lottery state for a couple of years... if you drove all the way across the county I lived in on a road that went through an affluent part of the county, there was exactly one store where you could buy a lottery ticket. On the other hand, if you drove across the county on a road through an economically depressed area, there was a store that sold lottery tickets on every corner. They were targetting the poor.
And who among the poor is buying that lottery ticket? It's mom or dad on payday - hoping to strike it rich by gambling the grocery money... and who loses? The kids who don't eat for the next week.
Also victimized are the folks who play the lottery. In states where gambling is legal, the state strictly regulates the gambling operators. For example, a casino in New Jersey can't just set to the slot machines to take half your money... if you keep putting money in a slot machine, over the long term, you'll walk away with 90 cents for each dollar you bet (this assumes you don't bet the same dollar more than once).
But the lottery doesn't work that way. If you bet a dollar in the lottery, in the long run, you'll walk away with 50 cents. If Donald Trump tried that in his casinos... he'd go to jail.
If you live in a lottery state and you want to gamble, you should seek out an illegal numbers game, because you'll get a fairer shake.
NC House Speaker, Jim Black, is pushing for quick passage of this bill because the state budget writers want to know if there will be lottery money available to alleviate the state's budget shortfall.
Wait just a second here! The lottery money is earmarked for school expenses. How can that alleviate the shortfall? You set the budget and then whatever comes in from the lottery goes to the schools, right?
Well, that's the big lie in state lotteries... Here's how it works:
The lottery money comes in and goes to the schools... then the schools' budget from other sources is reduced by the same amount... and that money is freed up to pay other state budget expenses. Sounds like no money from the lottery went to schools at all, doesn't it?
Well, it gets worse... since the schools have a protected source of money, the legislature will feel perfectly free to cut the school budget from year to year. This is completely absurd and irresponsible, but it's also what has happened in states that already have a lottery.
So there's victim number 1: Our children.
Who else is victimized? Well, the poor for one. It's not just that the lottery taxes rich and poor the same... it's that the lottery is targeted at the poor.
I lived in a lottery state for a couple of years... if you drove all the way across the county I lived in on a road that went through an affluent part of the county, there was exactly one store where you could buy a lottery ticket. On the other hand, if you drove across the county on a road through an economically depressed area, there was a store that sold lottery tickets on every corner. They were targetting the poor.
And who among the poor is buying that lottery ticket? It's mom or dad on payday - hoping to strike it rich by gambling the grocery money... and who loses? The kids who don't eat for the next week.
Also victimized are the folks who play the lottery. In states where gambling is legal, the state strictly regulates the gambling operators. For example, a casino in New Jersey can't just set to the slot machines to take half your money... if you keep putting money in a slot machine, over the long term, you'll walk away with 90 cents for each dollar you bet (this assumes you don't bet the same dollar more than once).
But the lottery doesn't work that way. If you bet a dollar in the lottery, in the long run, you'll walk away with 50 cents. If Donald Trump tried that in his casinos... he'd go to jail.
If you live in a lottery state and you want to gamble, you should seek out an illegal numbers game, because you'll get a fairer shake.
posted by Doctor Oakroot at
6:11 PM
1 Comments:
Doc,
You know that we are usually on the opposite political sides usually...but I believe you're right on the freakin' money here! I live in a gambling state. I've witnessed politicians start to get addicted to gambling revenue. First it's lottery. Then it's multi-state Powerball. Then it's slots and off-track wagering.
And the whole time this is happening, we keep hearing about economic shortfalls. The more money they make from this stuff, the more money they think they need. When does it stop?
And poor seniors (the #1 targeted demographic) keep spending their money trying to win lotteries they have no chances at. It's sickening.
I hope your state says no. You'll be better off.
Post a Comment
<< Home