Texas Gov. proposes selling the lottery

Comment #12

LOTTOMIKE — Fri, 09 Feb 2007 08:32:59 GMT

this would be a very bad idea......

Comment #11

dvdiva — Wed, 07 Feb 2007 07:45:08 GMT

Your point would be well taken IF lotteries had mechanical ball drawings that were televised and there are multiple potential witnesses. Since many lotteries are computer drawn and there is no way of knowing how the drawings really work it would be very easy to rig.

Remember a lottery doesn't just have to be rigged so someone wins it can also be rigged so more people loose. The latter may be far more profitable for a private company and hard to detect with computer drawings.

Comment #10

Drivedabizness — Tue, 06 Feb 2007 18:24:32 GMT

I don't believe that is necessarily so at all. Just because the Louisiana lottery was corrupt doesn't mean it would be easy to fix a modern lottery. I also challenge the notion that state employees are inherently more virtuous or altruistic than private sector people.

Selling the franchise to operate the Lottery does not mean that the private operator would follow any less stringent security procedures than today's lottery employees do - and I would imagine that the state AG or some ot... [ More ]

Comment #9

Coin Toss — Tue, 06 Feb 2007 00:12:07 GMT

As one news reporter stated, these states wanting to sell their lotteries are no different than a jackpot winner opting for half the advertised prize because they want their money now.

Comment #8

rdc137 — Tue, 06 Feb 2007 00:00:48 GMT

The bigger problem with this is that it'll create monopolies. These lotteries will be the only ones in their states and they will have absolute dominance on gambling. I would not object to private lotteries, but not private MONOPOLISTIC lotteries.

Still the other part of me wonders if it's even worth playing anymore.

Comment #7

Raven62 — Mon, 05 Feb 2007 23:25:50 GMT

The Governors are like sheep!

Just like the Bankers that bought into Junk Bonds

Comment #6

dvdiva — Mon, 05 Feb 2007 22:55:32 GMT

This would make the majority of Megamillions states private in the near future. Considering the disasters that McDonalds had with it's game it's only a matter of time before a scandal would hit private run lotteries. Scandals in private run lotteries were the reason lotteries were banned in the 1800's.

I'm sure Indian casinos would pay big bucks to shut down US lotteries should a scandal occur. Considering the money involved and the likelyhood of legislators restricting the business it seems... [ More ]

Comment #5

Drivedabizness — Mon, 05 Feb 2007 19:10:38 GMT

Tax $$$ don't pay for lotteries. Proceeds from sales do. Yes - some states do budget lottery proceeds (meaning they go through a legislative approval process), most don't - but they are not tax dollars.

There is no way to limit participation in a question like this to people who are real lottery players.

Many countries do license a lottery operator. TX already has its vendor do many things that other states use state employees to do and it is one of the most efficient lotteries... [ More ]

Comment #4

bobby jones — Sun, 04 Feb 2007 08:07:12 GMT

if illinois and texas does this how long before every state decides to privatize there lotteries.i would think that selling the lottery to a private company is illegal considering that it is our tax dollars that pay for it now.the people should have a say so in this and when i say the people i mean real lottery players.not somebody who maybe buys a ticket everytime the jackpot gets big.they say that the money would go to the schools but the money doesnt go to the schools now.

Comment #3

psykomo — Sat, 03 Feb 2007 04:36:44 GMT

Gov. Rick:

You WIN o!o!o!o

We're breathless o!o

THANK

u-Gov. for L@@K'g after the LITTLE PEOPLE enjoy de MONEY

Comment #2

psykomo — Sat, 03 Feb 2007 02:51:23 GMT

Gov. Rick:

U are SCARING...DE little people

to.......DEATH

Comment #1

psykomo — Sat, 03 Feb 2007 01:30:12 GMT

NOT....again!!!!!!!!!......Another One Bites......

DE DUST

WAT's........happening GOV. .............RICK??????????????????????

WHY's........don't YOU like DE............ LITTLE PEOPLE ...........RICK?

WE ME PSYKOMO.................... LITTLE PEOPLE ......propose

YOU divide a share of the money W/ LITTLE PEOPLE ..who make

less than $25,000 a year for the next .....50 years bring us out

of ............................PROVERITY teack us how to spell sumin!!!

Y... [ More ]

Texas Gov. proposes selling the lottery

Lottery Post — Fri, 02 Feb 2007 22:46:05 GMT

Texas Gov. Rick Perry said Thursday that his State of the State address on Tuesday would include a plan to fully privatize the Texas Lottery by selling it to private interests.

Perry said such a sale would raise substantial funds that could be used for health care and research.

Other states, including Illinois and Indiana, are looking into the concept, which allows a state to collect a large lump sum to replace future lottery revenue.

The proposal is likely to be controversial because t... [ More ]