Are lotteries part of the solution to the crisis in states' budgets?

Reply #19

myturn — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 09:29:52 GMT

Has you state got a subscription service?

Is it open to non-residence

Reply #18

myturn — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 09:58:35 GMT

California did have a subscription service some years ago, they could do with the money now. They should restart the service and make is available to areas of the US with a toll free number, just as Massachusetts does.

Reply #17

joker17 — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 04:27:07 GMT

You make a good point.

Maybe we could fire every politician, and employ everyday hard working folks with no ties to anybody.

Eliminate every porky program, special interest, lobbyist, dictator wanna be's, Federal reserve, the elite families, IMF, Bilderberg group, Rothchilds, JP Morgan types, and a whole host of greedy interests that have been exponentially getting in the way of financial progress for humans, and master minding schemes to controlling money.

Then you could literally wat... [ More ]

Reply #16

four4me — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 20:24:16 GMT

I guess we might as well jump in a hole and let them put the dirt on top.

http://www.brillig.com/debt_clock/

each citizen's share of this debt is $37,831.21

Reply #15

KY Floyd — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 07:22:06 GMT

You've lost track of the decimal places or traveled into the distant past or something. I'll assume that by every taxpayer you mean every man, woman and child in the US, which is about 300 million. $40 from each of them would be $12 billion. In 2 years that would be enough to deal with all but $2.3 billion of the deficit that California is dealing with. The federal deficit for 2009 is estimated to be about $1.8 trillion. If everybody kicked in $1000 it would raise $300 billion, and we could pay... [ More ]

Reply #14

four4me — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 03:42:39 GMT

Yes when i said to give them 20 dollars each fed. and state i was thinking along the lines that the money would just go toward the deficit and not into their spending coffers.

I first came up with this idea when Reagan was in office and then a short while later i was reminded of this when on our tax form it said would you like to donate $1.00 of your federal tax to go to the Presidential Election Campaign. Originally $1 and implemented in the 1970's now it's up to 3.00 dollars this is vo... [ More ]

Reply #13

joker17 — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 02:53:36 GMT

I really hate to barge in....lol

But i just can't help by replying to this. I think you are correct when saying free market will always rule, and money in the pockets of Americans will boost the economy. However, What Four4me, I think was saying, is that it always seems that such simple solutions are always overlooked. If that 20 bucks went staright to the source without any deviation, the job would get done. Sure you're system will work. And sure Four4me's system will work. Either way, they... [ More ]

Reply #12

konane — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 02:03:07 GMT

Totally agree

Reply #11

Kaptainess — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 01:39:26 GMT

They are going to tax us until we only can take home 6 months of salary, if they are not doing it already. They tax our pay, we buy something they tax it, so our money is being taxed twice. We pay our mortgage and we also have to pay the real estate tax. Taxed twice again. We pay our phone bill, its taxes on top of taxes. They only thing they don't tax is food and clothes, and in some states they tax clothes. Wait - if they start taxing clothes I'm going out buck naked to do my shopping - news a... [ More ]

Reply #10

Coin Toss — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 21:11:19 GMT

On paper, yes, sounds good. In reality, well, every state that has a lottery should have the best schools, well paid teachers, etc..., right?

Voo Doo accounting takes over and the Bucks for education get plugged in one place in the states' school budgets and an equal or greater amount gets taken out somewhere else.

Lotteries do generate some revenue that does some good, but nothing like they'd have you believe.

Of course, this is not going to keep me from playing!

PS

The abo... [ More ]

Reply #9

Todd — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 19:10:24 GMT

I think we're basically saying the same thing from two different vantage points. However, I do not believe forcing people to give the government more money is ever the solution. Reasonable taxation that supports the bare necessities is important, but taking away money because the government can do something extra with it is not.

The federal government government was strictly created in order to create a nation-wide currency to allow trade between the states, to form treaties with other countr... [ More ]

Reply #8

Shawn67 — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 17:51:40 GMT

I will agree with you to a point on this Todd. The government involvement in every aspect of our lives is a large part of what's going wrong in America. The government should be for the people and by the people....not for the governement. In effect, what you have done is proved four4me's point. The simple answer on how to make state and federal defecits disappear is as simple as four4me said. However, due to government involvement and mismanagement of everything they underatake (not to mention c... [ More ]

Reply #7

Kaptainess — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 16:41:03 GMT

Never trust a Politician! The country is going down the tubes and we as a people are doing NOTHING to stop it. March on Washington - sue each and every politician in Washington for fraud and anything else we can come up with. That would get their attention that we won't take it anymore!

Oh wait!! You can't sue them?!?! Geez. Got to think of another plan.

Okay we can start to impeach a few at a time - that should do it

Reply #6

Todd — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 16:24:36 GMT

Some people do both -- they point out problems and vote their conscience. It's the people who treat politics like they are routing for a sports team that are the problem.

Reply #5

Todd — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 16:22:51 GMT

I strongly disagree.

Having individuals spend more money within the free market (i.e., any goods or services that are not related to the government) would generate more government revenue through existing tax sources, while at the same time improving everyone's standard of living.

The more government is involved in any solution, the worse the problem becomes. As free markets become more involved in solutions, the problems are solved.

Reply #4

Shawn67 — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 16:17:51 GMT

Honestly, if citizen's would speak more with their votes instead of their mouths, I don't think we'd have as big of a problem with crookedness in office as we do today, but that's a whole different subject for a whole different thread.

Reply #3

frankie67 — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 16:06:06 GMT

Do you *honestly * think if people gave xtra money, the crooked politicians would not just WASTE it and want more? Where have you been

Reply #2

Shawn67 — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 15:53:39 GMT

. I also believe that if individual states would at least slightly increase the payout amounts for lower tier prizes, that it would encourage more people to play. Ultimately this would result in more income for the states even after the payouts.

Reply #1

four4me — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 06:25:09 GMT

If every taxpayer gave 20 dollars to the state government and 20 dollars to the feds if would fix all the deficits in about 5 years.

Are lotteries part of the solution to the crisis in states' budgets?

myturn — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 05:54:33 GMT

Many states are having budget problems and some, like California, are up the creek without a paddle. I think state should encourage people to participate in their state lottery to boost revenue. In my area, there are always draws and raffles for all sorts of causes, states could raise more funds by promoting lotteries.