Mr. Passailaigue, the ball is in your court.
Posted by Brett Kincaid on July 24, 2009
The Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families and BlogHawg favorite Ginny Blankenship sent this open letter to the state’s lottery director today. They have specific concerns about the state’s implementation of the lottery. To me, the critical question here is “Why market the lottery at all?” I look forward to hearing his response.
I have to say that I am (and have been) conflicted about the lottery since the beginning. On the one hand, folks in Arkansas play the lottery in every state that touches ours. I also have a problem with the government “protecting ourselves from ourselves” which seemed to be a theme of those against the mesure last fall. And the scholarships are appealing. As the son of an educator, I believe we should definitely make college more affordable and accessible.
All that said, I cannot help but believe this is a sucker’s bet that takes money out of the hands of the folks that really need it. I don’t believe the gub’ment should be suckering its people out of their cash. The multi-million dollar jackpots get the media attention, but there are going to be thousands of people throwing dollars at scratch-off tickets trying to win a couple hundred bucks.
It’s tough to deal with the devil, and that seems to be what this is.
Roger Black said
The election was last year. The people overwhelmingly want the lottery. Quit complaining.
Brett Kincaid said
I don’t think anyone is complaining about the lottery (or the results of the election). I do think, though, such an enormous government-run program should suffer tremendous scrutiny.
Jeff Hagers said
OK I almost never read letters to the editor. (One of my many reasons is that to me it’s a lot like why 20 – 40 year olds play adult basketball, softball, etc. They couldn’t make it to the next level but they still think they have game. Too many writers to the editor think they have game.)
BUT, the other day I saw one in the Dem Gazette that caught my eye on the way to the cartoons. The writer was lamenting that we are going Powerball instead of Mega Millions and I gotta agree with his logic. All but one of the lottery states we border already have Powerball. And the one that does not (Texas) is a small border. Why not have a mulit-state lottery that our neighbors don’t have so we can get their $$ too?
Sue Madison would love this. She still thinks Missouri owes us for the years of Macadoodles losses.
Brett Kincaid said
I actually have a very simple answer to that, Jeff.
It makes too much sense. Welcome to Arkansas government, folks!
Ginny Blankenship said
Thanks, Brett. I also had mixed feelings before the ballot initiative was ever proposed, but the research has since tipped me over: http://ginnyblankenship.wordpress.com/2009/07/25/the-lottery-school-counselors-and-nana
LittlePope said
Maybe we should ban Busch beer in Arkansas since it is also taking money away from the people who need it most. If you make bad decisions with your money, you should have to pay the consequences of those decisions. It’s entertainment that generates money for the state.
Things You Should Be Reading: Lottery Madness | The Arkansas Project said
[...] Coupla other quick hits: Blogger Mark Moore at Arkansas Watch points up some possible problems with a legislative report on average lottery salaries, while Brett Kincaid at BlogHawgs confesses to conflicted feelings about the whole enterprise. [...]