New Tenn. congressman wants national lottery

Comment #20

stavros — Sun, 19 Nov 2006 21:00:25 GMT

I agree B-Rad! What a jackpot that would be

Comment #19

floridian — Sun, 19 Nov 2006 20:35:05 GMT

I suspect that if this does materialize we could conceivably see a billion dollar first prize. I did say billion here. There are many 100 million dollar top prizes in Mega and several above 200 mil. Heck, why not a billion dollar winner.

F

Comment #18

cps10 — Wed, 15 Nov 2006 15:11:01 GMT

Yeah, no way they could generate that kind of cash to reduce the debt without reducing spending.

I think you are thinking of El Gordo, right? A multi-billion dollar cash payout would be incredible...with NO taxes taken out.

Comment #17

Bradly_60 — Wed, 15 Nov 2006 14:49:39 GMT

I think a national lottery would be a good idea. Seems like I am the only one. But nothing like we are used to. If the US was going to have a national lottery we should model it after Spains El Grando (or whatever they call it) Just twice a year drawings with sales for each drawing in the Billions. Our national debt isn't in the trillions....it is about $400-$500 billion. Even though I don't think the money should be used for that.....they can just find the money now in the budget and quit... [ More ]

Comment #16

rdc137 — Wed, 15 Nov 2006 14:39:54 GMT

(Off topic rant alert)

While I'd rather not turn this into a political debate on this forum, I feel I should point that this is actually a very bad proposal. It would simply replace one nightmare with another. Creating a 23% sales tax will be more expensive than what exists today when you actually do the math yourself (and that doesn't count state). Rather than focusing on creating a new tax, the emphasis needs to be on reduction and outright elimination of the current income tax, without cr... [ More ]

Comment #15

Todd — Wed, 15 Nov 2006 13:02:17 GMT

Did you check out Konane's blog? There is all kinds of info on the Fair Tax there.

Comment #14

hsvscubaski — Wed, 15 Nov 2006 12:46:42 GMT

If they where to do it NO federal tax on winnings would be nice.

I support the fair tax. It would eliminate all taxes on lottery winnings

Learn about the Fair Tax.

Visit http://fairtax.org

Comment #13

LOTTOMIKE — Wed, 15 Nov 2006 12:02:00 GMT

cohen alone and by himself worked twenty years to bring a lottery to tennessee.if it weren't for him tennessee would not have a lottery.i hate frist as much as the next guy but i'll vouch for cohen.it might be a lame brain idea but he gets a good grade in my book as far as what i've seen he has been a stand up guy.

Comment #12

pumpi76 — Wed, 15 Nov 2006 01:24:06 GMT

Anything to pay off the national debt i am in favor of it even if it means picking up trash cans...Where is the love for your country...I am going to propose a similar idea to authorities in my native country...People should be in favor of anything to save their country...And yes, another thing that is going to cut national debt is cutting off spending...A country with no debt is a rich country....I am glad someone mention the idea..Is stuff like this that makes me want to love the lottery...Is

Comment #11

whodeani — Tue, 14 Nov 2006 23:13:51 GMT

Pay off the national debt....Riiggghhhtttt. It would just be another stash of cash for the politicians to raid to pay for some useless and wasteful government program. That account would be filled with just as many IOUs as the social security fund is.

Comment #10

weshar75 — Tue, 14 Nov 2006 20:13:58 GMT

I would play another large jackpot game if it was available to me in Oregon.-weshar75

Comment #9

cps10 — Tue, 14 Nov 2006 19:54:30 GMT

rdc

That is true, however, they would be getting all that cash, so whats a few U.S. Treasury STRIPS to make the jackpot even less valuable...it's almost like they are creating another social security system with that type of annuity with Treasury Bonds...who's to say your annuity will last 26 years...ha ha ha

Comment #8

rdc137 — Tue, 14 Nov 2006 19:38:15 GMT

I am guessing that he is considering a replacement to both PB and MM, which I'm not sure I'd be happy with. As for the cash/annuity issue, that is addressed easily by offering both options. What would be interesting, however, is if the annuity could be paid with US Treasury bonds. Then again, if the idea is to pay down national debt, then the last thing you want to do is have an annuity because that would just be adding more debt.

Comment #7

rdc137 — Tue, 14 Nov 2006 19:34:46 GMT

Do you think this guy read my survey from a few days ago? Weird.

Comment #6

Todd — Tue, 14 Nov 2006 19:02:13 GMT

cps10, guesser, and orangeman: You guys just made my day!

(One for each of you

Comment #5

CASH Only — Tue, 14 Nov 2006 17:46:53 GMT

I probably would be in favor IF Mega Millions and Powerball/MUSL were left intact (the two games remain basically as they are; no merging.) I wonder what type of game(s) he's looking into. Of course, the cash/annuity issue would have to be addressed, as well as payout percentage.

Comment #4

bobby623 — Tue, 14 Nov 2006 17:18:33 GMT

This guy has been using 'fuzzy' math, smoke and mirrors, etc, for too long!

Would be interesting to know what game he has in mind. I don't know of a current game that would be attractive to players. Can you imagine a jackpot being divided into couple of hundred parts!!!

On the other hand - folks in Canada have been playing a 6/49 lottery for a long time. The jackpots are won frequently, and multiple winners doesn't seem to be a deterrent. An increase to $2 per ticket didn't have the nega... [ More ]

Comment #3

orangeman — Tue, 14 Nov 2006 17:07:21 GMT

Frist is from Tennessee, this guy is from Tennessee . . . Interesting. They seem to have messing up the lottery on their minds in that state. Anyone ask if they ma and pa were brother and sister?

Orangeman

Comment #2

guesser — Tue, 14 Nov 2006 16:22:13 GMT

What a moron.

How stupid does he think americans are ?

How would a national lottery even begin to lower the trillions of dollars of debt ?

We are not talking millions or billions here, we are talking trillions, the only way they will lower the debt is by CUTTING spending, and a certain failed operation in the middle east needs to be addressed (I didn't say ended, I said addressed), and supporting illegal immigrants financially is another, those are both a start.

And stop writ... [ More ]

Comment #1

cps10 — Tue, 14 Nov 2006 16:12:17 GMT

This guy's lost his mind evidentally. I like the idea of it too...could generate some of the largest jackpots in history, but like he said, the state lotteries and Powerball would NEVER go for it.

New Tenn. congressman wants national lottery

Lottery Post — Tue, 14 Nov 2006 15:54:01 GMT

Tennessee State Senator Steve Cohen, author of the bill creating the Tennessee Lottery, says he may consider working on a bill to create a national lottery to pay off the national debt when he heads to Congress.

I've considered that, he said. I know that the state lottery's against it, but I think a national lottery to pay off the national debt would be a good thing. ... Debt is a serious problem. A national lottery could help.

Cohen, a Democrat, was elected to succeed U.S. Rep. Harol... [ More ]