Should the US have a National Lottery?

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

Yes. Great way to raise money. Call it the "stupidity tax">

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

Yes. Great way to raise money. Call it the "stupidity tax">

More accurately, it would effectively turn out to be a tax on the poor.

So do you oppose state lotteries? Would you have voted with the three ultra-conservative counties on this map?



I've never heard of anyone going into bankruptcy or ruin because of a lottery. Even poors aren't going to go starving just because they buy a $1 lottery ticket every now and then. Plus the money can be used to increase welfare programs, which would greatly benefit smart poors who don't buy lottery tickets.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

I don't, I'm just pointing out that whenever referendums come on lotteries, it's only ultra-conservative counties that oppose them. RBH had a good thread with lots of maps on this, let me see if I can find it.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

https://uselectionatlas.org/FORUM/index.php?topic=55847.0

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

The election results beg to differ.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

Why would I go to a gun show? I don't own any guns or plan on buying any.

I don't care about Kanye West, his music sucks. Government sponsored gambling IS socialist. The non-socialist position would be to completely leave gambling up to the free market. I support both of course, both government-sponsored gambling and gambling in the private sector.

Steele, the only majority white county to vote for Kerry, voted 75% for the lottery, highest in the state.

I'm going to support my state's lottery until I see how it causes any harm, and so far I haven't seen any such harm. Even though I have bought a total of two tickets in my life.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

I'm just saying it's a conservative position.

Why did the most liberal Democrats vote against banning online gambling?

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

Why did the most liberal Democrats vote against banning online gambling?

Uh, that's a completely different issue.  I would never vote for an online gambling ban.  (Although Bernie Sanders did.)  This is about a government sponsored lottery.

Which as I pointed out, is the socialist stance, rather than leaving it up completely to the private sector, which would be the libertarian stance (the social conservative stance is basicaly banning all gambling altogether)

Why would I go to a gun show?

Because you're a wannabe redneck.

Then why haven't I bought any guns and don't plan on buying any guns? Thinking gun control doesn't work doesn't make you a redneck.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

My argument is the lottery works for raising money for things such as education and welfare programs which benefits the public. So keep it going. Easier to push for than raising taxes. Hell in RBH's thread you basically said you couldn't understand any rationale for opposing a lottery.

My apartment doesn't allow guns, nor do I have any reason to buy them anyway. Aside from that I have always remembered you as being against gun control. This recent transition to being radically for it and considering anyone who thinks gun control is ineffective is a redneck is a much larger turnaround than anything I've ever done.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

My argument is the lottery works for raising money for things such as education and welfare programs which benefits the public.

Lotteries are notoriously corrupt in that regard.  Only a small percentage of the money goes to where it was promised to go to.

If you want social services, raise taxes.  Doesn't matter if it's harder to push for.  It's much more effective.

In some states, maybe. Not here. Not in Georgia either, where it funds the HOPE Scholarship. Plus raising taxes especially ones like sales taxes can be a regressive tax on poors too, while a lottery effects only stupid poors (and stupid non-poors). If you're a smart poor, you're better off with a lottery than your taxes being raised.

I never said I was for gun control.  On a local level, I agree that it doesn't work.  On a national level, restrictions actually have to make sense-- i.e. not based on cosmetics (the assault weapons ban) or restricting civil liberties (preventing "terrorist" suspects from buying them).  This is a moderate and reasonable stance.

On the other hand, you seem to be more in the camp of the "ultra-conservatives."  Oh, yeah, there we go with those silly labels again!

I actually basically have the same stance as you, and your stance is closer to mine than WalterMitty's probably.

And as said before, I hardly cared about gun control much (and still don't much really) until I read WalterMitty's rants. The sheer illogicality (hey I invented a word!) of them turned me away. It's similar to immigration actually, I didn't care about it until reading CARLHAYDEN's rants, the sheer stupidity of them made me very pro-amnesty. Often bad arguments can push in the other direction, and Walter did just that to me with gun control.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

Well that's her own problem and her own stupidity. Not as stupid as had she been buying cigarettes and those are still legal.