Lottery: Promises and pitfalls

Comment #9

Rip Snorter — Tue, 27 Dec 2005 15:25:39 GMT

Hi Jim.I can see that would require some study.J

Comment #8

jim695 — Tue, 27 Dec 2005 15:13:49 GMT

Rip Snorter said: The classical Greeks kept their elected officials in line by executing them when they behaved in ways destructive to the public good. ____________________________________________________________________________________Well, this certainly seems like it would work.Capital punishment has long been touted by politicians as a deterrent to violent crime, despite statistics which prove otherwise, so I can think of no reason why they should object to such a policy.One problem, though... [ More ]

Comment #7

Rip Snorter — Mon, 26 Dec 2005 23:16:52 GMT

Hi Jim:Winchester Shooting Irons used to have an advertising poster picturing an NA in a warbonnet sporting a trade musket with a lot of brass tack designs on the face of the stock. The caption read, Winchester makes good Indians .During an earlier phase of my life I went through a stage of holding the opinion Winchester would also make good politicians. But frankly, I don't believe it anymore. I don't believe there's anything that would make good politicians in the current political environ... [ More ]

Comment #6

jim695 — Mon, 26 Dec 2005 16:47:00 GMT

Rip Snorter said: If that's the smoke and mirrors trick it takes to cause voters to allow lotteries to exist, let her rip. The 'support' side of the equation almost certainly involves political rhetoric. ___________________________________________________________________________________You're absolutely right, Jack. Political Rhetoric. What a wonderful term that is! We use it to describe what the politicians regurgitate during their bids for public office, and the politicians use it to under... [ More ]

Comment #5

Chewie — Mon, 26 Dec 2005 15:48:51 GMT

Politicians see revenue as a spendable asset - first to ensure their stature, then for the public; ocassionally the two can be combined. The same thing they did with all the tobacco money passed out. If some one hadn't created the term the lottery they would have eventually found another excuse to get more revenue. You can argue all day that the lottery is not a tax, but it serves the same purpose, get the politician additional revenue to spend. Put a restriction on spending. Thats a jok... [ More ]

Comment #4

MADDOG10 — Mon, 26 Dec 2005 14:52:27 GMT

It's the same scenerio, in each and every state that has a lottery with the exception of a few. If only they could see the trees through the forest , and follow it up as it was intended to do instead of creating the pitfalls as so many have done. The legislators talk about being able to divert funds earmarked for education for things such as disasters and so on. Have they even asked themselves what did they do before they had a lottery?The states need to stop using the lottery as a crutch and... [ More ]

Comment #3

Todd — Mon, 26 Dec 2005 14:11:29 GMT

I agree.The other thing that happens is that money that was previously going to education is diverted to some other entitlement program, so the net result is that more money is wasted, and education becomes almost solely reliant upon lottery revenues.That, in turn, makes the lottery revenue critically important to the state budget, which ultimately makes the lottery go to extreme lengths to keep revenue increasing from year to year. Think about what happened in Texas, with the lottery director m... [ More ]

Comment #2

JAP69 — Mon, 26 Dec 2005 14:03:51 GMT

Yep, When they put the lottery money into the states education budget the state diverts regular tax revenue meant for education to other areas. The school districts may see a bit more money but not all that is intended to go to the schools.

Comment #1

Rip Snorter — Mon, 26 Dec 2005 14:03:19 GMT

It makes people more accepting of the lottery, he said. One of the things that we found in our surveys is that if the lottery money didn't go for education, people wouldn't support it. If that's the smoke and mirrors trick it takes to cause voters to allow lotteries to exist, let her rip. The 'support' side of the equation almost certainly involves political rhetoric. On the side where someone plunks down a buck for a ticket 'support' doesn't have a thing to do with where the money ends up.... [ More ]

Lottery: Promises and pitfalls

Lottery Post — Mon, 26 Dec 2005 13:42:00 GMT

A look at problems and solutions of some state lotteries, as North Carolina leaders try to predict their own problems to come.Art Johnson isn't a big gambler but plays the Florida lottery on occasion. No, not because it will help the Palm Beach County School District, where he is superintendent. I want to win, Johnson said with a laugh.Ask him about the lottery's funding for education and Johnson is a lot less jovial. I'm unimpressed, said the former principal and school board member who now h... [ More ]