Andy Rooney: Lotteries and lottery players are stupid

Aug 7, 2006, 8:28 am (44 comments)

Editorial / Opinion

Editor: The following is a weekly 60 Minutes commentary by CBS News correspondent Andy Rooney, originally broadcast on March 19, 2006, and re-broadcast last night.

The study that Rooney quotes, saying that poor people gamble the most, is completely false. All credible studies show that all demographics gamble roughly the same amount. Rooney's commentary is shown here to illustrate the ignorant and myopic arguments of some anti-lottery critics.

I suppose it's true that I'm too easily annoyed but there is nothing that annoys me more than the story we all see every couple of weeks about someone who has won the lottery. Newspapers and television ought to charge for advertising lottery winners.

The most recent story was about workers in a meat packing plant in Nebraska, who won $365 million. What I always want to read is stories about lottery losers, there never are any.

There ought to be a law making it compulsory for anyone who reports the name of the winner of a lottery, to also give the name of all the losers. The names would be followed by the amount each person lost — just the way they give the amount the winner got.

Lotteries usually pay out less than half of what is bet. It's the worst odds of any gambling operation.

You see people buying lottery tickets all the time and it's obvious that most lottery money comes from the poorest people. They don't look too smart either.

Some of them cash their unemployment checks and buy lottery tickets with that money. Then they need more help from the rest of us.

There was a National Gambling Impact Study and in every one of the 48 States that has gambling — only Utah and Hawaii don't — the people who make the least gamble the most.

Lower income people in Massachusetts, for example, spent 15 times as much on gambling as people who make a decent living.  [Editor: This statement shows that you can prove anything using statistics, even something as outrageously false as this.]

I think we're all willing to accept some responsibility for helping people who can't help themselves. We approve of using some of our tax money for welfare to help the helpless. What I don't approve of is any government agency buying radio commercials to encourage the poor to waste what we give them on lottery tickets.

"You can't live the dream if you don't play the game, the New York Lottery. Attention lottery players watch the official televised lottery drawing every night on ABC 7. Tune in tonight and watch the winning numbers as they come up," one recent commercial went.

I'm embarrassed to say that commercial was on CBS.

A lottery is a stupid, inefficient way to raise money. Governments are supposed to do things that we can't do for ourselves — like fight wars, enforce laws, prevent crimes and put out fires.

It's outrageous when a government agency advertises to encourage anything as damaging to society as gambling is.

Andy Rooney thinks there ought to be a law requiring a listing of the losers and how much they lost.

CBS News

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DoubleDown

This....from the network that gave us Dan Rather...

nuff said.

CASH Only

60 Minutes is based in NYC. I get the feeling that Mr Rooney would RATHER not play NY Lotto.

LOTTOMIKE's avatarLOTTOMIKE

i have a feeling andy rooney would choose annuities and play computerized drawings.this man doesn't deserve to draw another annuitized breath.......

DoubleDown

By the way, Andy..

I think you are stupid. And do something about those eyebrows..

we;reallwinners's avatarwe;reallwinners

Maybe the viewers should be given the opportunity to vote on whether Andy Rooney is earning a "stupid" SALARY for giving his opinion on ANYTHING.

lmatlaw

Andy Rooney is a first class jerk. He's been spouting his inane ideas for years.

Bradly_60's avatarBradly_60

I saw this last night also.  I was a little disappointed but what can you say.  People with money think they are better than everyone else.  What  can you do?

Brad

bambini

As far as I'm concerned, getting a gig on a show like 60 minutes, is equivalent to winning the lottery.

orangeman

I can't help but point out that CBS is really See BS.  Wait until Katie becomes anchor of the See BS Evening News in September.  She'll make Andy look normal.

Orangeman                                Crazy

nomoneybabe

Well, I am lottery player not a big gambler at big casinos. In lottery pond, It still has true winners ? Why someone call someone like me stupid ?

I just hope there'is no a weird meeting made by some VIP talking about shut down lottery ? We need something fun in the life! never mind whoever call me "really stupid"Drum

jeffrey's avatarjeffrey

Andy Rooney should look at the history of the lottery. Paul Revere ran a lottery to pay for the revolution. The history of America is tied to the lottery. I guess America and Americans are stupid Andy.

RJOh's avatarRJOh

Andy Rooney is not the first person to say playing the lottery is stupid. 

Several times a year a local stupid person tells me the same thing while I'm buying lottery tickets.  How do I know they're stupid too?  They are usually buying a carton of cigarettes or a six-pack of beer at the time. 

Maybe Andy should also do a piece about the stupid people who smoke cigarettes and drink beer.  I wonder if Andy smokes or drinks.

fxsterling

Andy sounded like a post I read some time ago            but a lot of people think of his words as gold             In Biloxi some people think that every one cashed Fima checks at the Casinos  only part true

csfb's avatarcsfb

A gambler is a gambler is a gambler,  rich or poor, stupid or not.  Some may be addicted, some just do it for entertainment.

It is commonly perceived that there are more poor people gambling or buying the lotteries than rich people, and perhaps this could be true;  but I believe the reason is because there are just much more poor people than rich people.  If there were more rich people than poor, then there would be a reversed perception.

jeffrey's avatarjeffrey

I heard they cashed them at jewelry stores, porn shops, liquor stores and casinos.

Fibonacci's avatarFibonacci

Way to go Andy.

Some (stupid) people spend their money onwomen, booze, cigarettes, drugs, donations to political parties, donations to churches, mosques and synagogues with crooked pastors and rabbis and imams ,and some just send their money to foreign countries to buy more bombs , to steal more land and put the landowners in refugee camps to bomb them at will..

 Andy wouldn't be in any of these categories, right? 

justxploring's avatarjustxploring

Quote: Originally posted by jeffrey on Aug 7, 2006

I heard they cashed them at jewelry stores, porn shops, liquor stores and casinos.

Litebets started a thread on this subject last night. I already posted, but your comment is interesting.  When we read about the victims of hurricane Katrina taking the $2,000 and using it to buy porn, gamble and go to Vegas, maybe it was grossly over-exaggerated too.  I certainly was quick to pass judgment. The media plays on our prejudices as well as our emotions. There is a general attitude that people in lower income brackets are morally deficit which is why white collar crime is often overlooked.  I once worked for an auto loan company - believe me, there are people who make double-digit incomes with lousy credit and don't pay their bills. Being responsible isn't always about how much money you make.

I'm sure there are some people on food stamps who buy lottery tickets with welfare money, and as a taxpayer I disapprove.  However, poor people spending an occasional dollar or 2 a week for a shot at a better life isn't what costs the government trillions of dollars.

NCPicks

From Andy's article:"...What I don't approve of is any government agency buying radio commercials to encourage the poor to waste what we give them on lottery tickets..."

What we see is Andy's bigotry against the poor.There are no commercial that encourage the poor to buy lottery tickets.They encourage anyone over 18 to buy tickets.

"...You see people buying lottery tickets all the time and it's obvious that most lottery money comes from the poorest people.They don't look too smart either..."

You really want to talk about looks Andy?

It's Andy who thinks only the poor shouldn't be allowed to buy lottery tickets with his money.Does he have a problem with the rich buying lottery tickets?Does he have a problem with the wealthy getting tax breaks?What about corporate welfare?Any problem with how the rich spend their money Andy?

Perhaps Andy has been hanging out with his good buddy Mel Gibson,eh?

No,just like many others,Andy wants to tell the poor how they can or can't spend their own money.Maybe we'll tell CBS how to spend their money;and how to save it,by canning Andy Rooney. 

justxploring's avatarjustxploring

Quote: Originally posted by orangeman on Aug 7, 2006

I can't help but point out that CBS is really See BS.  Wait until Katie becomes anchor of the See BS Evening News in September.  She'll make Andy look normal.

Orangeman                                Crazy

Orangeman, that's hysterical.  I was going to give you the credit for a brilliant observation, but I just googled it and there are a few links using See BS. Still, thanks for pointing that out to us. Do you have one for CNN? I often wonder if I'm watching the news or a drama starring Anderson Cooper.

lmatlaw

Do you know what CNN stands for?

 

Constantly Negative News. 

bellyache's avatarbellyache

I'm not surprised Andy Rooney would say something like this. He's always going off about something. Madtv makes him look like a mad man in their skits. lol.

Todd's avatarTodd

Quote: Originally posted by lmatlaw on Aug 7, 2006

Do you know what CNN stands for?

 

Constantly Negative News. 

I thought it was Clinton News Network.

Coin Toss's avatarCoin Toss

For a lot of people, and this includes most working slobs, the lottery offers hope that they can stop being a working slob, and in most cases, that's about the only way they could do that.

People like Rooney, who we can be sure is paid very well, have no concept of living paycheck to paycheck, or if they ever did, 'how soon they forget'.

Rooney could have said something like a lot of people who play the lottery shouldn't spend as much as they do on it, but to say lottery players are stupid doesn't say much for him.

Litebets27's avatarLitebets27

Apparently Andy Rooney likes to hear himself talk, but he doen't always listen to what he is saying all of the time. His statement was one man's opinion, and it kind of sounded like a jealousy outburst over the fact that people that he considered as "poor" one day came into riches over night when he has worked so hard for so many years for what he has.

I wonder if anyone approves his statements before he makes them on air.( apparently not)

litebets

DoubleDown

I'm a bottom line type person, so here it is...

Who really gives a fat rats arse what Andy Rooney says about anything ?

 DD

justxploring's avatarjustxploring

Quote: Originally posted by Todd on Aug 7, 2006

I thought it was Clinton News Network.

I don't know, Todd.  I always liked Clinton so I really have a hard time swallowing that!

 

BTW, either nobody read my first post (or cares) but I meant "6 digit income" not double digit income, when I was referring to people who make a good living.  Sometimes my fingers don't type what my brain tells them. Maybe I should start a thread with the topic of "how many times have you screwed up your post on LP?"

dvdiva's avatardvdiva

I missed it like most shows on CBS. I don't watch much tv especially shows that are aimed at the "Depends" market like 60 minutes.

orangeman

CNN considers itself a stateless "International" news network serving planet Earth.  That explains a lot about their viewpoint.  Personally, I call them the Crescent News Network because they favor the Arabs and run down Israel. 

ABC, the Arab Broadcast Company, is especially bad about their little asides on Nightline.  Terry Moran is a sicko leftist stooge and I don't know where they dug up that moron who is anchoring it now. Some raghead with a British accent.

Peter Jennings used to date a "lady" who eventually became a spokesperson for the Palestinian Liberation Organization.  He only became a U.S. citizen a year or two  before he died of cancer.  Guilty conscience, I guess.

Don't even get me started on Chrestian Amandor!  She is an apologist for the Iranians!  Could be because she is half Iranian . . . duh . . .

If the Arab agents on Nightline say "It is a Sign of the Times" one more time I am going to reach through the TV and strangle somebody. 

Orangeman                                                     Dunk

LottoLin

Andy needs to check his resources. Jack Whittaker was a self made millionaire he won over $300 mil, there was another man in Illinois he was also a  extremely wealthy person he won  over $200 million. So it's not just the poor that play the lottery, if Andy would have gone through the archives of past lottery winners there is more of majority that  were well off that have won, leaving the social players and the ones that will spend thier last penny on tickets. It's a mixing pot of people that play the lottery because as they say you can't win if you don't play. You'll never know if your numbers are finally coming up if you don't buy that $1.00 ticket.

emilyg's avataremilyg

Quote: Originally posted by justxploring on Aug 7, 2006

I don't know, Todd.  I always liked Clinton so I really have a hard time swallowing that!

 

BTW, either nobody read my first post (or cares) but I meant "6 digit income" not double digit income, when I was referring to people who make a good living.  Sometimes my fingers don't type what my brain tells them. Maybe I should start a thread with the topic of "how many times have you screwed up your post on LP?"

me2

Todd's avatarTodd

Quote: Originally posted by justxploring on Aug 7, 2006

I don't know, Todd.  I always liked Clinton so I really have a hard time swallowing that!

 

BTW, either nobody read my first post (or cares) but I meant "6 digit income" not double digit income, when I was referring to people who make a good living.  Sometimes my fingers don't type what my brain tells them. Maybe I should start a thread with the topic of "how many times have you screwed up your post on LP?"

Sorry to hear that (about Clinton).

With your "screwed up post" comment, that's what the Edit and Delete buttons are for.  After posting a message, you get an Edit and a Delete button on the post for 20 minutes, so if you made a mistake, it's very easy to correct.

justxploring's avatarjustxploring

Quote: Originally posted by Todd on Aug 7, 2006

Sorry to hear that (about Clinton).

With your "screwed up post" comment, that's what the Edit and Delete buttons are for.  After posting a message, you get an Edit and a Delete button on the post for 20 minutes, so if you made a mistake, it's very easy to correct.

Yes, I did like Clinton (and still do)  However, I was only making a very off-color joke when I wrote that comment. I shouldn't admit it and just let it blow over.

As far as the Edit & Delete buttons go,  I was talking about noticing a mistake I made hours earlier and signed off & shut down. I've used the edit button many times. Thank you.

Todd's avatarTodd

Quote: Originally posted by justxploring on Aug 7, 2006

Yes, I did like Clinton (and still do)  However, I was only making a very off-color joke when I wrote that comment. I shouldn't admit it and just let it blow over.

As far as the Edit & Delete buttons go,  I was talking about noticing a mistake I made hours earlier and signed off & shut down. I've used the edit button many times. Thank you.

OK, cool...

ayenowitall's avatarayenowitall

As far as I can tell, this is still the United States of America. Whether informed, uninformed, or misinformed, we all still have the freedom to form and express our opinions. Andy Rooney's message was a commentary. Neither he nor CBS made any pretense that his ideas were hard, factual news reporting. I don't know anyone who hangs on Andy's every word to guide them in making decisions about their direction in life. I'd be willing to bet that not a single person has started or stopped playing lottery games based on the airing of Andy Rooney's views.

Personally, I always get a kick out of Andy's segment on 60 Minutes. He's an entertaining mix of humor and sardonic wit. I never take him too seriously and I don't think he wants to be taken entirely seriously. He's always good for a laugh no matter what point of view he takes.

Controversy is the stock-in-trade of those who do talk shows and commentaries. Their job is simply to stir people up and get them talking. They could really care less whether you happen to agree or disagree with them. All they want is attention because publicity makes money for them.

Songwriter and entertainer George M. Cohan once said, "I don't care what you say about me, as long as you say something about me, and as long as you spell my name right." I'm sure that CBS and Andy Rooney are quite pleased that they've managed to create such a buzz here on Lottery Post.

aye'

 



psykomo's avatarpsykomo


Good NEW$$$$$$$ "the lottery is for children"

 (it is suppose to be used for education in most states)

At least some know better than to swollar<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

ABC....Clinton News Net.....and CBS......garbage, buttttt

other's like to feed on it like "Little Piggies"!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Now go in piece....................and WIN the JACKPOT$$$

and buy a BIG OLE "Mono Mans-Bag" to carry all that 

money accross the Mediterrean..............too MONACO!!!

LOL$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

PSYKOMO          

shinningstar

I'm so glad that us stupid people who play the lottery do have college  degrees and jobs.  But like other people who posted on this comment by Azzhole Rooney I mean Dickhead Rooney, what's his name?  Oh Andy Rooney, my bad, but I have 1 question for Andy Rooney and if he is smart please give us facts. When was the last time you saw someone who is getting goverment assistance file for bankruptcy?  Since you said that most poor people who are on the welfare system is playing the lottery.  Please advise us STUPID folks FACTS not BS.......

rdc137

This makes me have to wonder: If we are all so stupid because we play the lottery, what if we all stopped playing for two weeks? Would the stupid people make a noticeable dent in sales nationwide?

wizeguy's avatarwizeguy

Quote: Originally posted by lmatlaw on Aug 7, 2006

Do you know what CNN stands for?

 

Constantly Negative News. 

Daryn Kagan is leaving CNN to start a website of only 'good news'. It's supposed to startup mid November. I've already got it bookmarked. Thumbs Up Here's the story - http://apnews.myway.com/article/20060803/D8J973880.html

justxploring's avatarjustxploring

Quote: Originally posted by rdc137 on Aug 8, 2006

This makes me have to wonder: If we are all so stupid because we play the lottery, what if we all stopped playing for two weeks? Would the stupid people make a noticeable dent in sales nationwide?

Sorry, count me out!  With my bad timing, the numbers I've chased for 12 years would probably be drawn during those 2 weeks.

carlacarla's avatarcarlacarla

America was founded by Puritans and other fanatics and that legacy still remains today.  People cannot stand anyone, especially someone who is not rich, to come into instant riches.  It's just not right. 

 

What I have a problem with is the comparison of stupidity to poverty.  There are a lot of stupid rich people and a lot of smart poor people.  Mozart died poor in an unmarked grave, he was one of the great geniuses of Western Culture. 

 

Remarks by Mr Rooney only shows his narrow mind with narrow hardened arteries cutting off the circulation to his brain.

LOTTOMIKE's avatarLOTTOMIKE

Quote: Originally posted by emilyg on Aug 7, 2006

me2

count me in also as someone who liked clinton.those were some good years.the man wasn't perfect but he sure beats the guy sitting in the white house now.........

pacattack05

Anything to get ratings.

I'm sure he has an invisible halo over his head, and we're too stupid to see it.....LOL

lucky146's avatarlucky146

When I was in high school I worked as a messenger in NYC. I once had a drop off for Mr Rooney. I found him to be a personable and caring guy - didn't talk down to me, seemed genuinely interested in what I had to say. As I remember he asked me why I wasn't in school (I was on winter break).

Not saying I agree or disagree with his rant - just that he didn't seem like a guy with a lot of pretense - he was the same guy you see on TV...unlike other celebs I have met.

just my $00.02

Fibonacci's avatarFibonacci

Notwithstanding Andy Ruined's usually nonsensical editorial...lottery doe simpact the poor and middle class more than the rich. It is a cynical form of taxation that is indeed regressive and somewhat immoral from a policy-making POV.

Governments should not be making money off sick people's vices.  The truth is, apart from the sane, ordinary folks like us here at LP Big Grin, many players are just down-on -their luck dreamers and idiots thinking that they are going to score of their birthday or social security number.

I met a guy in a store and he told me he's been playing the same pick 4 straight every day for 5 years--his girlfriend's license plate. Poor fool...

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