"Lotteries: America's $70 billion shame"

That probably wouldn't be a bad idea if they could then get a handle on the interest rates and fees.

Being poor is mostly a matter of income, but it's also a matter of outgo -- and typically a poor person who comes into 50 bucks is going to find a way to spend that rather than save it.

If folks are wasting $230 on the lottery, there's a whole lot more waste in the budget than that.

 

The state is making the decision for them. It knows exactly what's going to happen when it holds a lottery.

 

They get hope, if but for a few seconds. Hope, in many cases, is something to hang your hat on, even for a few seconds, win or lose.

And if they win, hey, all the better though most wins are of the nickel-and-dime variety, and those pennies go right back into the next tickets, which are losers.

But all the while they get to experience a few seconds of hope.

For many, it's all they have in the grand scheme of things.

 

I do take some objection on the line of poor people paying for the well off.

I've been the rookie reporter who made 16 grand in his first job. Last year was the first year wife and I made really combined money where it wasn't paycheck to paycheck. Took nearly two decades with one recession setback and raising kids to get there. The grand tally on taxes paid out was 26 grand between the two of us (Fed, state, FICA plus local property taxes).

But when I was making 16k, I sure wasn't spending money on lottery tickets. Okay, that's a lie. Maybe $10 a year when it gets really high. Same as now.

I don't mind paying the taxes as much now because, in those broke days, I had very little federal tax liability. I'm all for paying for schools and education, roads and bridges and social services. That's cool. Part of quality of life for all.

Yet I also know that probably 50-60 percent of people don't have their shit together. Tell them not to smoke and they smoke. Tell them not to text and drive and they'll do it while chugging Busch Light. Tell them meth will destroy them and they'll make a new pot.

May as well get some of the lottery revenue from them.

The only part is agree on with poor people are being used by the rich is when a person who has made bad decisions in their life wins a 7-figure lottery ticket. Then, yes, rich people will usually get the money eventually. Banks. Car dealers. Vacation operators. That's absolutely true. More money makes you more of what you are.

 

Look, it's no secret that the poor often make poor decisions with their money. That doesn't mean we should encourage it.

Drive through some of these neighborhoods. Half of the retail stores sell some combination of lottery tickets, booze, and/or cigarets.

And, no, there aren't easy answers. Opening a grocery store doesn't mean people will start buying fresh fruits and vegetables, instead of fast food:



But, the government should not be marketing lotteries to its poorest citizens.

 

Most neighborhoods in America have stores that sell lottery tickets, booze and cigarettes.

And, cigarettes will never be outlawed because it's too lucrative to keep the massive governmental circle jerk going.

 

Where do y'all come down on student loans? From where I sit, one could make the case that the student loan racket is comparable to the state lotteries racket.

 

No, but the point remains that in an America in which the phrase "tax increase" is anathema, calculatedly generating revenue on the backs of ignorant impoverished people through lotteries with astronomical odds is more than a little cynical. We're basically coming in and taking over the numbers game, only jacking up the odds to increase the margins.

 

YF...

I agree with you on the marketing to poor citizens. It's selling hope that is highly unlikely.

Having covered plenty of "access issues" with the poor, this is very true on grocery stores. Very few are in walking distance in poor, urban areas. Prices are often marked up. Yet the gas station is always in the area, complete with Ding Dongs, Four Loko, lottery tickets and 17 flavors of cigarillos.

If there was a strong demand for kale and Greek yogurt in these locations, the stores would stock them.

 

As well as lots and lots that don't.

In shitty neighborhoods, you've got the convenience store, the discount phone store, the check cashing place, and the liquor store.

There are a lot of reasons why businesses don't open up shop -- poverty, and high crime among them -- but when the government is sucking what little cash is available, out of the neighborhood through the lottery and other regressive taxes, there isn't much money left over for additional spending.

 

To some, winning the lottery seems like a better way to get out of their current situation than the other options they have tried in the past.

And I think gambling is much more prevalent with those that have more money than those that have little.