Lottery miracles only breed more gambling misery

The Boston Herald ^ | 12/21/2002 | Joe Fitzgerald

[Sparta]

If there is to be legalized gaming, it should be done by the private sector not by the state government.

[Chancellor Palpatine]

I always adore these "gambling is an evil waste of a family's money" articles, because they inevitably mention someone's bingo habit.

I guess good ol' Father Whoozit could have had more concern for the children of his parish by keeping the number of bingo games lower, and setting a limit on the number of cards one could play, but as the guy closest to the situation, he couldn't. So now its the fault of the eeeeeevil casinos and race tracks.

Kill off all but charitable gambling - its for the children.

< /sarcasm >

[pabianice]

Sorry, but the personal failings (yes, FAILINGS) of some should not deprive the rest. Not taking personal responsibility BUMP!

[yankeedame]

Not being cynical, just curious:

Since the lottery, etc. etc. are either state run or state endorsed/permitted could a gambling addict and/or his family sue the state? You know, for something like "pain and suffering", "alienation of affection" (the addicted person loses all interest in his family), "no warning that this is addictive". You know, the kind of stuff they trot out against Big Tobacco and the like?

[dwilli]

I've always kinda figured that people who blow the rent money on the lottery would find some other way to piss it away if the lottery wasn't there.

[DWSUWF]

"...``I'll admit I was torn,'' Ruth said. ``Obviously I was happy for them because they deserved a break. But what drove me crazy was wondering how many other people who never bought a ticket will now take up the habit, hoping they'll get lucky, too..."

"...Her father, ``whom I dearly loved,'' had a steady job with Hood Milk when the Depression began but lost it to an addiction that would eventually claim his marriage, too. ... ``He loved to gamble,'' she recalls..."

Awwwww...

Poor Ruth...

The product of some day-late-dollar-short whitetrash family, she blames her mortification on the gambling.

And -by God- she'd move Heaven and Earth to see to it that YOU can't enjoy buying a damn Powerball ticket if only she could.

Because, you see, even though she admits that she comes from nothing, somehow she knows everything about what's best for US.

Hey Ruth...

Do the world a favor and take a long walk on a short pier.

[renosathug]

It's simply lack of self-control that leads self-destructive people to gamble away all their money. There are those who drink it up, gamble it up and whore it up.

We don't need another law to protect us from self-destructive behavior. We need to instill a sense of values into children, simply by letting them know that they must be responsible for their own lives, that no one will be there to bail them out if they screw up in a big way. The nanny state that so many people propose will not change these peoples' thinking.

[Sparta]

I'm surprised the Gamble and Go To Hell crowd hasn't shown up yet.

[Fzob]

Lottery = State Tax on the mathematically challenged.

[BigBobber]

I agree 100% Gambling should be legal only for private entities. For the government to be promoting gambling as the way to get rich, instead of hard work and self-reliance, is unseemly at best, disgusting and socially destructive at worst.

Government-run gambling gives people on the lower half of the bell curve the idea that this is a credible and sanctioned way for the downtrodden to improve their lives.

[Fixit]

I prefer the term "Tax on hope".

[galt-jw]

POWERBALL IS $200 MILL.

[the_devils_advocate_666]

Excuse me, that would be 215 million for the Dec 21 drawing. With the cash payout of 116.8 million you've almost got the odds on your side (odds of winning the powerball grand prize are 1 in 120,526,770). Then again, that 116.8 million is before taxes...

Never-the-less, I still bought my girlfriend two tickets. Now we can sit around and play the wonderful game of "What would you do if you had $100,000,000?"

[Fzob]

"Tax on hope".

I like it. Much closer to the truth. Mind if I use it?

[David1]

Well, I consider myself mathematically challenged. That's why I do play lotto occasionally when the prize becomes big. I only play a few bucks. Hey, you never know. But I do play responsibly.

[David1]

Yup, that's why I play a few bucks when the jackpot becomes so large. I can start dreaming about what I would do with that money.;-)

[Petronski]

Lottery = State Tax on the mathematically challenged.

My economics professors always called it, many years ago, the 'Inverse Tax on Math Skills.'

[DWSUWF]

"...I'm surprised the Gamble and Go To Hell crowd hasn't shown up yet..."

They're probably all out buying Powerball tickets while wearing those bignose/glasses/mustache things.

I stay in the Powerball game for one ticket in every drawing. That's about $100 a year, which is chump change in anyone's book these days.

If I ever win I'll set up trusts for my kids and their cousins, build something the church needs and buy a Hummer.

Then, at some point, I guess I'll die and go to Hell for gambling.

[Fixit]

It does have a nice ring, doesn't it?

I only wish that I were clever enough to have come up with that phrase. I picked it up years ago from a source lost to time, so feel free to use it all you like.