Panel in Texas to study ending the the lottery in Texas

[Big Empty]

Hell no. its the only hope i have to be rich....


http://www.ksat.com/content/pns/ksat/news/2014/07/25/report--panel-to-study-ending-texas-lottery-.html

AUSTIN, Texas - Could the days of the Texas Lottery be coming to an end?
Texas House Speaker Joe Straus has appointed a House committee of five lawmakers to study the effects of ending the lottery, according to a report Thursday in the Houston Chronicle. (http://blog.chron.com/texaspolitics/2014/07/committee-to-study-ending-the-state-lottery-takes-shape/)
The panel will also examine charitable bingo and how revenue from the game will be distributed.
Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst will select five senators for the panel, which is scheduled to report its findings and recommendations by Dec. 1.
Critics of the lottery say that it preys on poor people. But proponents argue that getting rid of the lottery would create a $2 million hole in the Texas budget.

[boutons_deux]

"Critics of the lottery say that it preys on poor people."

anybody got any proof that it doesn't?

[cantthinkofanything]

"Critics of the lottery say that it preys on poor people."

anybody got any proof that it doesn't?




Here's some proof. This guy went from being homeless to finally being able to afford a nice TV.
http://thelottolife.com/blog/2014/2/19/this-rags-to-riches-lotto-winnerss-story-is-so-unbelievable.html#.U9K8ZbFCz78

[DarrinS]

Thank God. Lines at the convenience store will go much quicker.

Take those fuckin scratch-offs away, too.

[cantthinkofanything]

and in Michigan, over 3500 welfare recipients have won the lottery. bet it changed their life for the better.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/17/michigan-lottery-winners-welfare_n_3100733.html

[cantthinkofanything]

Thank God. Lines at the convenience store will go much quicker.

Take those fuckin scratch-offs away, too.

motherfucking yes. I can't stand being behind someone cashing in 10 separate $1 tickets and then taking 10 minutes to fucking get more tickets.

"can I axe you what de newest tickets is?"
"hmmmmm...let me get one of dose"
"now...how bout this new one hereah? how do it work?"
"hmmmm...let me get one of dose too"

[DarrinS]

motherfucking yes. I can't stand being behind someone cashing in 10 separate $1 tickets and then taking 10 minutes to fucking get more tickets.

"can I axe you what de newest tickets is?"
"hmmmmm...let me get one of dose"
"now...how bout this new one hereah? how do it work?"
"hmmmm...let me get one of dose too"


:lmao

[cantthinkofanything]

:lmao

and they are fucking acting like they are weighing the pros and cons of each fucking ticket game. Like there is some sort of skill to it. Fucking shit I hate ******s that do that. *lottery players

[DarrinS]

and they are fucking acting like they are weighing the pros and cons of each fucking ticket game. Like there is some sort of skill to it. Fucking shit I hate ******s that do that. *lottery players

I've seen someone have the nerve to start scratching those off at the counter. Oh, hell no!

[Blake]

They need to at least get rid of the $50 scratch off ticket at the vending machine

[boutons_deux]

A 2011 paper in the Journal of Gambling Studies (http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs10899-010-9194-0?LI=true) conducts a thorough review of the available research on lotteries and concludes that the “poor are still the leading patron of the lottery and even the people who were made to feel poor buy lotteries. The legalization of gambling has seen a significant increase of young people gambling, particularly in lotteries, and the best predictor of their lottery gambling is their parents’ lottery participation.” A 2012 study from Yale University (http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1054139X12003199) finds that the “receipt of scratch lottery tickets as gifts during childhood or adolescence was associated with risky/problematic gambling and with gambling-related attitudes, behaviors, and views suggesting greater gambling acceptability.” Moreover, other studies, such as a 2010 paper in the Journal of Community Psychology (http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/jcop.20376/abstract), find that lottery outlets are often clustered in neighborhoods with large numbers of minorities, who are at greatest risk for developing gambling addictions.

The psychological reasons that explain the connection between poverty and lottery play are complex. A 2008 experimental study (http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/bdm.588/abstract) in the Journal of Behavioral Decision Making states that “it would be naive to think that low-income individuals disproportionately play lotteries due to ignorance or cognitive errors.” The researchers found that participants, made aware of their low-income status, may play such unlikely odds because of a sense that there is a uniquely level playing field where everyone, rich or poor, has the same chance of winning.

An even broader look at the dynamics between demographics and lottery purchases is the subject of a 2012 study from researchers at the University of Buffalo, also published in the Journal of Gambling Studies. That study, titled “Gambling on the Lottery: Sociodemographic Correlates Across the Lifespan,” (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21132521) analyzes telephone survey data from a random sampling of nearly 5,000 Americans; the data were compiled from two surveys conducted at different times, one with persons ages 14-21 (though 18 is technically the legal age to play) and the other survey with those 18 and older. The survey asked respondents about all forms of lottery play in the past 12 months, “including instant scratch tickets, daily numbers or Lotto….”

The study’s findings include:


“With regard to lottery play for respondents of various racial/ethnic groups, non-Hispanic whites and Native Americans had the highest proportion of gambling on the lottery (51% for each group); however, with regard to mean levels of gambling on the lottery, blacks and Native Americans had the highest averages (20.6 and 25 days, respectively).”
Those in the lowest fifth in terms of socioeconomic status (SES) had the “highest rate of lottery gambling (61%) and the highest mean level of days gambled in the past year (26.1 days).” Moreover, there were “very few observed differences in lottery gambling for those in the three upper SES groups — 42–43% gambled on the lottery and the three upper groups averaged about 10 days of gambling on the lottery in the past year.”
The data show that “blacks have lower rates of gambling on the lottery than whites, but blacks have a higher average number of days gambled on the lottery than whites. However, in the analysis containing all of the sociodemographic variables, including socioeconomic status and neighborhood disadvantage, black and Hispanic groups are not significantly different from the white reference group in number of days gambled on the lottery.”
The tendency to play the lottery in a given year increases for people in their twenties and thirties — the proportion hovers around 70% in those age groups. It dips slightly to about two-thirds for people in their forties, fifties and sixties; and then declines to 45% for people 70 and older.
Men play more frequently than women do — every 18.7 days among males, versus 11.3 among females, on average over the past year.

The study concludes that “increased levels of lottery play are linked with certain subgroups in the U.S. population — males, blacks, Native Americans, and those who live in disadvantaged neighborhoods.”
- See more at: http://journalistsresource.org/studies/economics/personal-finance/research-review-lotteries-demographics#sthash.MlyE6y2u.dpuf

http://journalistsresource.org/studies/economics/personal-finance/research-review-lotteries-demographics#

For every poor person who won some lottery money, that money came from other poor people who lost. Everybody loses almost ALL THE TIME. That's how the "house" wins

[Spurminator]

To say it "preys" on the poor implies they have no choice as to whether or not to buy Lotto tickets.

I don't necessarily like that this sort of thing is run by the State Government, but I also know Texas lawmakers never saw a revenue source they didn't want to cut, and we're already way underfunded when it comes to education and infrastructure.

[Big Empty]

im ok with the scratch offs going but i love my office powerball pot and mega millions when it gets high! i love dreaming of winning 20 million dollars. makes me feel better and gives me hope when im at my job, especially when i deal with a shitty client. lol

[baseline bum]

I fucking love the lottery. Much better to have a tax on stupid than a tax on everyone tbh.

[TeyshaBlue]

I've seen someone have the nerve to start scratching those off at the counter. Oh, hell no!

Lotteridiots.

[baseline bum]

LOL people buying in pools. In the 1 in a million chance you win you split up the winnings 20 ways so you get your after tax lump sum payout of maybe $350,000.

[Big Empty]

LOL people buying in pools. In the 1 in a million chance you win you split up the winnings 20 ways so you get your after tax lump sum payout of maybe $350,000.
im ok with that!

[Wild Cobra]

"Critics of the lottery say that it preys on poor people."

anybody got any proof that it doesn't?



Proof?

No.

However I will contend that the same lack of responsibility people who lose their money in such ways is why they are working poor.

If not the lottery, they will be poor for other reasons.

[Wild Cobra]

Thank God. Lines at the convenience store will go much quicker.

Take those fuckin scratch-offs away, too.

This is what I hate.

The damn lines for these tickets.

Maybe require small businesses with such volume to have a second checker just tom handle those transactions. Afterall, the store gets a cut of the profits. If they don't have the volume to support another employee, then too bad.

[Th'Pusher]

This is what I hate.

The damn lines for these tickets.

Maybe require small businesses with such volume to have a second checker just tom handle those transactions. Afterall, the store gets a cut of the profits. If they don't have the volume to support another employee, then too bad.
What an excellent free market solution to a real problem.

[pgardn]

Same basic theme plays out again.

Saving people from themselves. Yes or no.

Is it a tax on stupid or a tax on hope/despair...

[Wild Cobra]

Same basic theme plays out again.

Saving people from themselves. Yes or no.

Is it a tax on stupid or a tax on hope/despair...
People with compulsive behavior will simply be self destructive in some other method. I don't mind the state and businesses profiting from their stupidity. I don't believe in wasting time protecting people from themselves.

[Wild Cobra]

What an excellent free market solution to a real problem.

LOL...

Not really. What I said is in anger over the situation. The free market solution is not to patronize the businesses that make us wait. Let's face it. The have the lottery because it makes them money.

I also hate being in line behind someone separating their SNAP and WIC items.