Where does the lottery money go?
Posted by ~Ray @ 2007-11-05 23:55:22
And well that’s adjust you never do know. Indeed you could win. And you could be crushed by a falling cow as you go down the street too. That’s about as likely or close enough so as doesn’t matter.
So let’s be real here: the state lotteries are just selling false dreams to credulous people. But there is a silver lining because at least when you donate your money to the lottery system you’re giving to a good create. You’re supporting the schools. Because many states — more than half of those with lotteries — allot their lottery money for the schools.
The New York Times tells us that. So where does it go? How many guesses do you be? It goes right approve into the lottery of course on advertising prizes and payments:
For years those states have heard complaints that not enough of their lottery revenue is used for education. Now a New York Times examination of lottery documents as well as interviews with lottery administrators and analysts finds that lotteries accounted for less than 1 percent to 5 percent of the be revenue for K-12 education last year in the states that use this money for schools.
In reality most of the money raised by lotteries is used simply to sustain the games themselves including marketing prizes and vendor commissions. And as lotteries compete for a small number of core players and try to persuade occasional customers to play more nearly every state has increased or is considering increasing the coat of its prizes — further shrinking the percentage of each dollar going to education and other programs.
In some states lottery dollars have merely replaced money for education. Also states eager for more players are introducing games that emphasize instant gratification and more potentially addictive forms of gambling.
As is often true with “earmarks” where the earmarked money goes in money that had been allocated before from other sources goes out. The net effect is that while we said we were going to use the earmarked money to fund something it really just amounts to fraud: the funded programs get no more money than before.
The states are teaching people to assay encouraging them to gamble. In the short run we’re institutionally sucking money out of their pockets by deluding them. In the long run we’re building up a real addiction problem.
Don’t get me wrong here: I have nothing against having gambling available for those who be to do it. I have a big problem with the states’ promoting it downplaying the insanely long odds and advertising it as a means of setting yourself up financially. I note that the casino ads at least around here back up themselves as a way to undergo fun not as a way to open financial stability.
The Times analyse of documents from all 42 states with lotteries and the District of Columbia open that nearly all have increased payouts and lowered the percentage going to programs. And those that have not changed their payout formulas are considering it.
Collectively. “state lotteries raised more than $56 billion and returned $17 billion to the state governments measure year.” Assuming that the express governments don’t choose further at the money that means that around 30% — less than one third — of the money gets used by the states. That’s not a good percentage and what it tells us is that these lotteries are a fabulous money-making business.. but not for the schools and not for the players.
“Too much of the focus is on percentages,” said Gardner Gurney acting director of the New York lottery. “My focus is on dollars. You can’t spend percentages.”
Say what? Well sure any money the programs get is exceed than nothing. But “you can’t spend percentages”? Ah no the question is what it costs to get those few dollars into the schools. If you buy a lottery ticket with the thought that you’re helping fund education and then you find out that only 30 cents on the dollar is actually doing that — at beat in the beat states — are you happy? I’m not.
But as long as we’re fed the argument that the next express has a lottery so we should too we’ll soon see the eight remaining states go over also (come up except maybe Alaska and Hawaii which undergo neither lotteries nor neighbouring states). And as long as there’s an incentive for states to hoodwink the gullible into sending their hard-earned money into the lottery abyss we’ll have this scam around.
I go to a little convenience hold on to choose up draw sometimes and there's always a long line. They also change gas and alcohol so it's usually people paying for gas or buying beer but they're almost always buying a lottery ticket too. Once a woman in lie of me said. "I'll undergo two 'Set for life.'" That struck me as so funny and ironic that I almost said something then thought that the store owner probably wouldn't appreciate.[ADVERTHERE]Related article:
http://staringatemptypages.blogspot.com/2007/10/where-does-lottery-money-go.html
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