State's lottery is dishonest business

State's lottery is dishonest business

Billed as a harmless way to pump up education revenue without raising taxes, the empathetically named North Carolina Education Lottery was created to compete with surrounding state lotteries, where Tar Heels often dropped thousands of dollars.

Smelling another money-raising avenue, the N.C. Legislature voted the lottery into existence over the objections of many religious leaders, as well as those who feared it would become an indirect tax on the poor.

The lottery was justified by lofty promises that lottery proceeds would directly benefit the state’s educational system, but those promises conveniently soon were forgotten as lawmakers plundered the funds with about the same constraint as investment cheat Bernard Madoff exhibited when helping himself to his own clients’ money.

Although tough times often do call for tough measures — and it certainly can be argued these are tough times — where the lottery was concerned, the state chose to assume the role of a reverse Robin Hood, robbing both the poor and the schools in order to fund other projects.

Meanwhile, back in Onslow and Carteret counties, as well as across the Tar Heel State, residents increasingly struggle with unemployment, rising living costs and the burden of higher taxes. Some have also discovered a new and potentially devastating addiction that many would never have even known they had without government intervention: Gambling.

Gambling is one of the least understood of all addictions, but one of the most destructive. Those who suffer from it often lose everything to its pull, leaving their families with little or nothing. Very often gambling addicts go through their assets before anyone else is even aware of the problem, leaving debt and misery in their wakes.

While there is certainly an element of free will in the purchase of a lottery ticket and many gamble without losing their shirts, government should not actively push gambling or the sale of alcohol, for that matter. If the state needs the money these activities provide, then it should tax them instead. With North Carolina actively exploring the expansion of its lottery ticket sales, the state can now lay claim to the dubious distinction of finding new ways to prey upon its poorest citizens.

If lottery officials have their way, the lottery will grow yet again, with multi-million dollar jackpot drawings four days a week instead of two. The move will add another high stakes pay-out to the lottery; however, the state’s goal isn’t to multiply the chances of a Tar Heel winner but to make more money from desperate people buying lottery tickets they can’t afford.

If North Carolina expands the lottery again, the state should change the name. Education is certainly not its true focus. Instead it should be called the “North Carolina Whatever We Want to Do with It Lottery.” It doesn’t have much pizzazz, but unlike the whole lottery business itself, at least it’s honest.