Wednesday, April 06, 2005
My anti-lottery letter
NCGOP Chairman Ferrell Blount sent an email yesterday to probably everyone who has signed up for issue emails here, alerting us that the NC lottery bill may come up for a vote in the House very soon. I'll try and pass on the email itself to all the Halifax County activists I have email addresses for; please consider signing up for these emails yourself as I won't readdress any more emails like this. The NCGOP has been sending only one or two of these a week, and they seem to be set up well for getting through spam filters (i.e., I didn't have to do anything special at all to get them).
I wrote to the new General Assemblyman, Ed Jones of Enfield, who was apparently officially appointed yesterday to serve out the term of John Hall; his page on the General Assembly website is up now. As I mention in my letter below, I met him at the meeting of the Democratic Executive Committee for the 7th Legislative District in Halifax on Monday, when the local Democrats chose him for the governor to officially appoint. His speech asking for this designation was short on specific issues but long on humility, sincerity, and promises to listen to all his constituents. So I wrote him, we'll see. Those of you on the western edge of Halifax County and in downtown Roanoke Rapids are in the 49th Legislative District and should think about writing to Representative Lucy Allen, who is also a Democrat so who knows if she'll listen to us.
You'll note that I didn't use any of the exact talking points Chairman Blount supplied; calls for email campaigns generally encourage letter writers to personalize their letters for better impact. Anyway, here's what I wrote:
Dear Representative Jones,
First of all, congratulations on gaining the confidence of the Democrats of Halifax and Nash Counties and being appointed by the governor to serve out the term of John D. Hall; may he rest in peace. Your 'campaign' address to the Democratic 7th Legislative District Executive Committee, promising to serve with honesty and openness to all your constituents' ideas, reflected great credit upon you and I am sure your background in law enforcement will be an asset to the General Assembly.
I am writing to you today (rather than after you get settled in) as word has it that the bill establishing a state lottery may come up for a vote very soon. I noted that your principal opponent for your present seat, Sammy Webb, spoke in favor of this lottery, and specifically recommended it as a means of collecting (presumably new) money for education, Medicare, and aid to Tier 1 counties. Press coverage of the lottery proposals also has hinted that the $500 million that it is expected to raise in the near term will help cover the $1.2 billion deficit this year. So I am concerned that this bill is being 'sold' to the General Assembly as a panacea, promising new funds for whatever ails the polity, when actually, in the out years, it will be treated as any other tax contributing to the General Fund. Clearly new money will not be thrown into education, for instance, without regard for the need for it, and programs which are truly needed which are funded by lottery money will then NOT be funded from the General Fund; therefore, the lottery will not be putting new money into education but merely more money to the General Fund for allocation to programs the General Assembly supports. So the lottery should be treated as any other tax, and the wisdom of levying it considered accordingly.
A state lottery might well be considered a 'sin' tax, as it taxes a behavior (gambling) which is generally thought to be undesirable. Gambling is also illegal in most forms; legalizing a form of gambling in order to tax it erodes the social stigma associated with it and erodes respect for the law.
State lotteries have uniformly been found to function as regressive taxes, transferring money from the poor, less educated, and less secure and hopeful sectors of society to those wise enough not to participate.
A lottery is an INEFFICIENT tax. Not only paying out winnings but also the need for large advertising campaigns give it a shockingly high 'overhead', and it collects money which might otherwise be spent by consumers on things which not only do the consumers more good, but are also taxed more sensibly.
I will not be paying any of this lottery tax, as I know that any scheme the state is taking some 30% out of, and as I have heard is projected to pay 18% long term in advertising and other overhead costs on, amounts to a suckers' bet. A North Carolina state lottery will nevertheless impact me personally, not on my wallet but on my psyche. Every lottery advertisement I see will remind me that my neighbors are being played. Every time I stand in line at the gas station or a convenience store behind someone buying lottery tickets I will be saddened that my government is participating in fleecing another victim. Every new jingle on radio or television depicting lottery players as happier than the rest of us, I will compare to the effort my government puts into the teaching of probability and statistics in schools.
An effort to continue collecting state revenue via a lottery would be a constant battle of glitz versus truth, pitting advertising professionals using every trick in the book against educators teaching probability, pastors and parents teaching responsibility, and each citizen's own eyes showing the desperation of people who put their trust in lottery winnings rather than in gainful employment; and it would distress me greatly to see my state government coming down on the side of deceitful advertising and pandering to what some call an addiction, and which I consider degrading ignorance.
I hope that you will refuse to support a state lottery.
Sincerely yours,
Kent Ross
Chairman, Halifax County Republican Party
I wrote to the new General Assemblyman, Ed Jones of Enfield, who was apparently officially appointed yesterday to serve out the term of John Hall; his page on the General Assembly website is up now. As I mention in my letter below, I met him at the meeting of the Democratic Executive Committee for the 7th Legislative District in Halifax on Monday, when the local Democrats chose him for the governor to officially appoint. His speech asking for this designation was short on specific issues but long on humility, sincerity, and promises to listen to all his constituents. So I wrote him, we'll see. Those of you on the western edge of Halifax County and in downtown Roanoke Rapids are in the 49th Legislative District and should think about writing to Representative Lucy Allen, who is also a Democrat so who knows if she'll listen to us.
You'll note that I didn't use any of the exact talking points Chairman Blount supplied; calls for email campaigns generally encourage letter writers to personalize their letters for better impact. Anyway, here's what I wrote:
Dear Representative Jones,
First of all, congratulations on gaining the confidence of the Democrats of Halifax and Nash Counties and being appointed by the governor to serve out the term of John D. Hall; may he rest in peace. Your 'campaign' address to the Democratic 7th Legislative District Executive Committee, promising to serve with honesty and openness to all your constituents' ideas, reflected great credit upon you and I am sure your background in law enforcement will be an asset to the General Assembly.
I am writing to you today (rather than after you get settled in) as word has it that the bill establishing a state lottery may come up for a vote very soon. I noted that your principal opponent for your present seat, Sammy Webb, spoke in favor of this lottery, and specifically recommended it as a means of collecting (presumably new) money for education, Medicare, and aid to Tier 1 counties. Press coverage of the lottery proposals also has hinted that the $500 million that it is expected to raise in the near term will help cover the $1.2 billion deficit this year. So I am concerned that this bill is being 'sold' to the General Assembly as a panacea, promising new funds for whatever ails the polity, when actually, in the out years, it will be treated as any other tax contributing to the General Fund. Clearly new money will not be thrown into education, for instance, without regard for the need for it, and programs which are truly needed which are funded by lottery money will then NOT be funded from the General Fund; therefore, the lottery will not be putting new money into education but merely more money to the General Fund for allocation to programs the General Assembly supports. So the lottery should be treated as any other tax, and the wisdom of levying it considered accordingly.
A state lottery might well be considered a 'sin' tax, as it taxes a behavior (gambling) which is generally thought to be undesirable. Gambling is also illegal in most forms; legalizing a form of gambling in order to tax it erodes the social stigma associated with it and erodes respect for the law.
State lotteries have uniformly been found to function as regressive taxes, transferring money from the poor, less educated, and less secure and hopeful sectors of society to those wise enough not to participate.
A lottery is an INEFFICIENT tax. Not only paying out winnings but also the need for large advertising campaigns give it a shockingly high 'overhead', and it collects money which might otherwise be spent by consumers on things which not only do the consumers more good, but are also taxed more sensibly.
I will not be paying any of this lottery tax, as I know that any scheme the state is taking some 30% out of, and as I have heard is projected to pay 18% long term in advertising and other overhead costs on, amounts to a suckers' bet. A North Carolina state lottery will nevertheless impact me personally, not on my wallet but on my psyche. Every lottery advertisement I see will remind me that my neighbors are being played. Every time I stand in line at the gas station or a convenience store behind someone buying lottery tickets I will be saddened that my government is participating in fleecing another victim. Every new jingle on radio or television depicting lottery players as happier than the rest of us, I will compare to the effort my government puts into the teaching of probability and statistics in schools.
An effort to continue collecting state revenue via a lottery would be a constant battle of glitz versus truth, pitting advertising professionals using every trick in the book against educators teaching probability, pastors and parents teaching responsibility, and each citizen's own eyes showing the desperation of people who put their trust in lottery winnings rather than in gainful employment; and it would distress me greatly to see my state government coming down on the side of deceitful advertising and pandering to what some call an addiction, and which I consider degrading ignorance.
I hope that you will refuse to support a state lottery.
Sincerely yours,
Kent Ross
Chairman, Halifax County Republican Party
