[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?

[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.

[Fzob]

Lottery = State Tax on the mathematically challenged.

[galt-jw]

POWERBALL IS $200 MILL.

[weikel]

I prefer a lottery to the additional income taxes the Commonwealth of Mass would say it "needs" to replace it. Lotteries are a voluntary tax on the stupid a good non coercive way of raising revenue.