>For the record, the "tax on the poor" argument is dumb.<
For the record you have not looked at the subject if you think that.The top 10 zip codes in Ga. for purchases of lottery tickets have the fewest Hope Scholarships.The 10 zip codes with the highest # of Hope scholars are among the lowest purchasesers of Lottery ticets.
Actually I have looked into it quite a bit. As a former elected official, I had access to all the materials collected on the subject by both sides of the question. There is no non-anecdotal evidence to support an argument that lottery tickets are purchased by the "poor" (whatever that means) in outsized numbers. Furthermore, there is substantial evidence to suggest that among those of modest means, every dollar spent on a lottery ticket is a dollar not spent on cigarettes and beer.
All that aside, though, the argument itself is dumb because it promotes the "poor as victims" sham. It implies that the poor are unable to take care of themselves and need someone to adopt them and prevent them from doing dumb things to themselves. It is also a class warfare argument.
Now if you want to argue that the lottery is a tax on stupidity, I'll have to go along with you on that one.