Whut we shutdown State Lottories

whm1974

Diamond Member
Jul 24, 2016
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OK after Watching John Olivers YouTube poking fun at state lotteries in the US, I am reminded on why I'm opposed to them. Namely due to the harm they cause to the low income folks that mostly play them and the fact that states usually cut or remove other funding sources of programs that are supposed to funded by these lotteries.

And yes the majority of people who play the lottery are folks who can the least afford to play it.

My proposal? A Constitutional Amendment shutting down and forbidden both the Feds and the States from having the Lottery. Yes I know this would a very steep uphill battle to pass but I think it would well worth it to do.
 

glenn1

Lifer
Sep 6, 2000
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Your reasoning is sound but good luck getting an amendment passed, the requirements for doing so are nigh impossible to meet.
 

whm1974

Diamond Member
Jul 24, 2016
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Your reasoning is sound but good luck getting an amendment passed, the requirements for doing so are nigh impossible to meet.
I live in HUD housing and I see my fellow renters waste their money on lotto tickets. In fat I once had a roommate that kept getting into my food because he was spending his money on tickets instead of buying food.
 

vi edit

Elite Member
Super Moderator
Oct 28, 1999
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I used to scratch offs every now and then in IL. A couple bucks a month. Then they sold off the lotto system to a privatized company and the odds for a lot of tickets went from 1:4 to at least breaking even to closer to 1:7. If you didn't follow the news or read the back with the disclosure you'd never know. Private companies have no public to hold them accountable. Not sure that's much better than keeping it with the states.
 

Indus

Diamond Member
May 11, 2002
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The only amendment I see passing reasonably is that.. States have the right to secede from the union provided enough notice blah blah blah.

That is the only thing that'll fly.
 

whm1974

Diamond Member
Jul 24, 2016
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I used to scratch offs every now and then in IL. A couple bucks a month. Then they sold off the lotto system to a privatized company and the odds for a lot of tickets went from 1:4 to at least breaking even to closer to 1:7. If you didn't follow the news or read the back with the disclosure you'd never know. Private companies have no public to hold them accountable. Not sure that's much better than keeping it with the states.
I wasn't aware that IL did this. Of course I haven't brought a single lotto ticket in my life and I'm not going to.
 

whm1974

Diamond Member
Jul 24, 2016
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The only amendment I see passing reasonably is that.. States have the right to secede from the union provided enough notice blah blah blah.

That is the only thing that'll fly.
Didn't the Civil War settled that issue and the US Supreme Court put the final nails in that coffin afterwards?
 

Zorba

Lifer
Oct 22, 1999
14,452
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OK after Watching John Olivers YouTube poking fun at state lotteries in the US, I am reminded on why I'm opposed to them. Namely due to the harm they cause to the low income folks that mostly play them and the fact that states usually cut or remove other funding sources of programs that are supposed to funded by these lotteries.

And yes the majority of people who play the lottery are folks who can the least afford to play it.

My proposal? A Constitutional Amendment shutting down and forbidden both the Feds and the States from having the Lottery. Yes I know this would a very steep uphill battle to pass but I think it would well worth it to do.
I completely agree that the lotto should go away. I have long regretted my votes to approve lottos and increased gaming in OK (not that my one vote swang the results). Both are a tax on poor people and do little to actually help their stated causes.

I am not sure you could regulated in-state lotteries without an amendment, but you could end multi-state lotteries with just a law passed by congress. Either way, I think it would be a hard uphill battle, due to states loving to tax the poor instead of rich and I think the public as a whole doesn't really mind them.
 

zinfamous

No Lifer
Jul 12, 2006
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The removal of budget funding aside, the "poor tax" issue could largely be fixed by restructuring the prize structure of the winnings. Rather than stick with this asinine 1:270 million or whatever it is to win the single jackpot, we should do what the Spanish do and award hundreds of jackpots at smaller sums. Actually, a lot of states do have lotteries like this, with much smaller jackpots and much better odds of, at least, breaking even on your lack of winning. Problem is that Powerball and Mega Millions are excessively marketed as the only game in town (the largest national lotteries) and with absolutely unreasonable chances of winning anything.

I live in MD, which has Multi-Match. Minimum jackpot is $550k and goes up at 25 or 50k when no one wins, 2 draws per week. Someone usually wins every 2 or so weeks, sometimes it takes longer, but I haven't noticed it hit more than 1.2 million. So, there are frequent winners and I think it is up to 5 people can share winning tickets without splitting the pot. (so if Jackpot is $600k, up to 5 winners will each get $600k). But the best part is that the odds for various prizes are quite decent for a 2 dollar ticket, and winning $2 is about 1:8 I think. I haven't purchased one in a while, but after about 1.5 years at one point, buying 1 ticket per week, I was up about $30-40, lol.
 
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vi edit

Elite Member
Super Moderator
Oct 28, 1999
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The removal of budget funding aside, the "poor tax" issue could largely be fixed by restructuring the prize structure of the winnings. Rather than stick with this asinine 1:270 million or whatever it is to win the single jackpot, we should do what the Spanish do and award hundreds of jackpots at smaller sums. Actually, a lot of states do have lotteries like this, with much smaller jackpots and much better odds of, at least, breaking even on your lack of winning. Problem is that Powerball and Mega Millions are excessively marketed as the only game in town (the only national lotteries) and with absolutely unreasonable chances of winning anything.

Get out of here socialist! Take everyone's money and disperse it back to a bunch of people. You some kind of commie?
 

zinfamous

No Lifer
Jul 12, 2006
110,512
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Get out of here socialist! Take everyone's money and disperse it back to a bunch of people. You some kind of commie?

I know right? Imagine dozens of poor and middle class people paying off their modest mortgages and vastly increasing their savings and spending power, rather than some individual dude buying a super mansion with a helicopter pad and blowing all the rest on coke, hookers, and tigers with diamond and gold teeth implants, and getting killed because he carries all of his winnings around in suitcases in the trunk of his car.
 
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Nov 29, 2006
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I dont play scratcher tickets, but i do play the lottory. I buy 1 ticket per drawing, so about $16/m. I can easily live without the $16 and its worth the chance to win millions. Ill probably never win obviously, but ill never have a chance of winning if i dont play.

GOP: Not my problem poor people cant manage their money. FYGM....
 

vi edit

Elite Member
Super Moderator
Oct 28, 1999
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And this is "Politics & News" how?

It's involving a voted in policy, an infrastructure run by a state(s) and questions regarding the ratification requirements to amend said laws.

Seems pretty P&N'y to me.
 

UglyCasanova

Lifer
Mar 25, 2001
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I agree the lotteries shouldn’t exist but that should be left up to the voters in those states to decide.
 

Thebobo

Lifer
Jun 19, 2006
18,592
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OK after Watching John Olivers YouTube poking fun at state lotteries in the US, I am reminded on why I'm opposed to them. Namely due to the harm they cause to the low income folks that mostly play them and the fact that states usually cut or remove other funding sources of programs that are supposed to funded by these lotteries.

And yes the majority of people who play the lottery are folks who can the least afford to play it.

My proposal? A Constitutional Amendment shutting down and forbidden both the Feds and the States from having the Lottery. Yes I know this would a very steep uphill battle to pass but I think it would well worth it to do.

Sure regular gambling will just take its place
 
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