Expanded lottery budget hurts gullible

Published August 28, 2015

Editorial by Rocky Mount Telegram, August 27, 2015.

There is only one reason the N.C. Senate wants to expand the budget to market lottery tickets – the likelihood that more people will throw away their money more often.

Since its inception in 2005, the lottery has followed a pattern predicted by practically every newspaper in the state, including the Rocky Mount Telegram. The money that lottery supporters swore would benefit North Carolina schools “only” has been used to replace – not supplement – funds normally budgeted by the N.C. General Assembly for education.

Meanwhile, the marketing campaign on radio and television has only grown more garish – spinning the lottery’s hopelessly stacked odds into games somehow related to retired professional wrestlers and the old “Star Trek” television series.

Expanding the lottery marketing scheme is only the latest ploy to separate fools and money more quickly and more often.

The money generated by the lottery is too big to go away, even though Republican legislators once swore up and down they hated the idea of a state-run game of chance.

Of course, that was before they controlled the N.C. General Assembly.

Smart people will not be affected by more radio and television advertising for lottery ticket sales. They’ll simply continue to keep their money in their pockets – where it belongs.

http://www.rockymounttelegram.com/opinion/our-views/expanding-lottery-budget-hurts-gullible-2967007

August 28, 2015 at 10:58 am
Norm Kelly says:

Remember, the lottery scheme is/was a creation of the Demoncrat party. The always honest, completely above-board, honorable Mike Sleasley promised us the lottery would solve EVERY problem in the state except snow on the roads/highways. Otherwise, demons all agreed that taking advantage of suckers was the right thing to do. At the same time, it's also important to remember, democRATS eliminated all private competition to state-sponsored gambling. Remember that video poker was allowed in the state, and survived many legal challenges, right up until demons forced state-sponsored gambling on us. Wasn't the lottery passed in the dark of night, when opposition was reduced, along party lines? Sounds like another scheme foisted upon us by libs!

Right from the beginning, before the lottery was illegally passed & forced on us, we opponents said that it was simply a tax on the simple minded. Liberals, demons, news-paper people all told us that we were being foolish and that our fears were unfounded. We opponents also said that lottery proceeds would NOT supplement school spending but would SUPPLANT school spending. Demons PROMISED us this would not be so. Yet, just like every other state that made this promise, NC has ignored ANOTHER LIBERAL promise and done exactly what they said wouldn't happen. Is this a problem in the socialist party that they lack the ability to tell the truth? Or is it a politician problem that they all lack the ability to tell the truth. First, let me say that I trust very few politicians to tell the truth. Second, history and facts show that there aren't any demons/socialist party members that have the ability to tell the truth. As soon as some lib starts telling the truth, they are either KICKED out of the party or voluntarily leave the party because they are tired of telling lies and being lied to. (Bernie Sanders is only half an exception: he's a member of the demon party in title only; he's an admitted socialist. Kinda like McCain is a Republican in name only but is really a liberal leaning moderate.) Let's use Bill Clinton as an honest example of libs who have the ability to tell the truth. Or how about we use Hillary as a perfect example. While Hillary is a perfect example for a lot of things, she is not a perfect example of someone who recognizes truth let alone the ability to speak truth. How about the honorable Mike Easley from right here in NC? Truth? Hardly! Then there's the demon party of NC that promised the lottery would do so much good, was not a tax on the poor or simple minded, and gambling was a good thing to teach our kids so long as the benefits were so wisely used. Cuz we all know that gambling in the hands of private business/citizens is BAD, BAD, BAD, but gambling in the hands of the state is nothing but good!

Of course, since Republicans control Raleigh, news-paper writers find it necessary to blame lottery problems on Republicans. What are Republicans to do about the lottery? Even though it's one of the worst items given to us by the demons, though not THE worst just ONE of the worst, is it possible for Republicans to get rid of the stupid game? If not, then their only choice is to embrace it. Expand it to take advantage of the riches that libs told us were available. Expand on the idea of the libs. Oh, wait. Just like black voting districts created by libs are good, good, good, districts that are too black (created by Republicans) are bad, bad, bad. Cuz we all know that only a color-blind, loving, kindly, big-hearted lib can tell when the balance in a black district is just right. And every lib knows that not a single Republican can create a black district that has the right mix of blacks and non-blacks. In order for a district to be considered 'racially balanced', the district ABSOLUTELY MUST have been created by a lib. Otherwise the district was created with segregation and suppression in mind. And, again, it's those rascally Republicans taking advantage of the dis-advantaged. Cuz not only are blacks simple-minded, easily taken in by lottery games, they are also 'dis-advantaged' and therefore need protection of libs!

Everything about the lottery is at least as bad as opponents said it would be. In most cases, it's worse than we predicted. Mostly because it's politicians in charge of the scheme. Almost everything touched by politicians becomes a corrupt scheme. Virtually every scheme forced upon us by socialists becomes a corrupt scheme manipulated by sketchy politicians (and libs!).

There are so many similarities between the lottery scheme and Obamacancer/socialized medicine that it scares the he!! out of people who can think. Libs, socialists, demons, 'news'-paper editorial writers fail to see the similarities as well as the disaster. Yet, somehow, now that Republicans control Raleigh, this same group of people suddenly find fault with the lib-originated lottery scheme. How long will it take 'news'-paper types to catch on that socialized medicine is also only a scheme with failure built in? I won't hold my breath!