Usually politicians will attempt to sell a policy by claiming “if not adopted we’re gambling with our children’s future.”
The corrosive affects of NC’s lottery continue to spread, as demonstrated by this report in today’s N&O:
In August and September, teens under age 18 were paired with state agents and made visits to 348 lottery sales outlets across North Carolina.
At each store, the minor tried to purchase a $1 scratch-off ticket — in violation of state law, which prohibits sales of lottery games to anyone under 18. They were successful in making the purchase 98 times, or in more than one of every four attempts.
With the escalating barrage of NC lottery advertising, including the plan to pimp Christmas, is it any wonder our kids are falling prey to the “money for nothing” ethic?
We were promised that our lottery commission had learned from the mistakes made in other States. We even brought in a heavy hitter with plenty of experience to avoid the common pitfalls.
Heck, you’d think with the stench of our corrupt short-tenured former NC lottery commissioner Geddings still lingering, the commission would be more than proactive in maintaining high ethical standards:
The state lottery commission this month adopted for the first time a policy on sales to minors. It put in place a three strikes process.
THIS MONTH! What a predicable load of manure the lottery is turning out to be…
Yep, the lottery is turning out to be quite Educational as gambling now becomes a part of our children’s future.
There are other aspects to the Lottery debacle which are not widely discussed or understood. When the Lottery was conceived, many commentators suggested that the Legislature would find the Lottery proceeds too attractive to ignore, and would find ways to redirect funds away from education. This is exactly what has happened – to expect anything else is to deny the essential nature of state-level politics. The current CHCCS budget woes are certainly not helped by shortfalls in state contributions. I don’t know the exact arithmetic here, but it shouldn’t be too hard to figure out. Getting mad at the Orange BoC over their budget priorities is all very well, but citizens should be aware of the games being played in Raleigh. The financial stakes are much higher there, and the process is far from transparent. We should be demanding accountability from our elected officials.