Lamenting the Lottery

People are now spending $1.7 million per hour buying up tickets for a $340 million power-ball lottery drawing scheduled for tonight. Since yesterday, the odds of winning have grown just a little longer: from 145 million to 146 million to 1.

Now and then, you'll hear the faint voice of a lottery official who's mouthing the message, "Please play responsibly," as though that were possible. Of course, this is followed by yet another live report from a convenience store:

"Here in Podunk, Jim, lottery tickets are selling like hotcakes!"

"It looks like the line goes all the way around the building, Susie! I bought five tickets this morning myself."

This . . . makes . . . me . . . sick.

State legislators know good and well that lotteries represent one of the most repressive forms of raising revenue, two to three times more repressive than, say, an income tax. Not to mention that the fine-sounding reasons for establishing a lottery ("these monies will help fund education" etc.) are rarely followed once the state-sanctioned gambling has begun.

What elected officials are telling their constituencies adds up to this: "As long as we don't have to tell the rich people we've got to raise their taxes, we'll take foolishly-spent money and use it anyway we want."

For all of our collective agonizing over the plight of the poor, why doesn't anyone say that the have-nots would have at least a little more if our states would stop taxing their folly and desperation?