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Opinion editorials Handling of Pit Appeal Calls for a Time-Out |
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opinion editorialsThis editorial first appeared in the Albuquerque Journal. It was written by editorial page staff and is unsigned as it represents the opinion of the newspaper rather than the writers
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Friday, October 30, 2009
More Lottery a Losing Bet for Poor Families
Can you justify collecting more money from the financially weakest segment of the population in the worst economy since the Great Depression by promising a few more scholarships for their children?
The answer is no — especially in light of the fact limited incomes mean many of those children might not have enough food, clothing or shelter in the years between now and college.
Yet the New Mexico Lottery board has unfortunately decided to add a second multistate, multimillion-dollar lottery to its offerings, just in time for 7.7 percent unemployment, a 31 percent jump in bankruptcies and an 18 to 20 percent increase in applications for food stamps.
State lottery CEO Tom Romero says adding Mega Millions to the list of games could increase sales by “at least 5 percent (and) as much as 35 percent.” He also acknowledges the new game will likely cannibalize players from other existing games, limiting the growth potential. Even if there was a promise of more scholarship money, it's simply not a good trade.
Lottery Board member Cliff Stroud of Carlsbad says it's a matter of strategy. “It's incumbent that the New Mexico Lottery make this move or we're going to see that the citizens of New Mexico are going to vote with their feet as they cross the borders into other states to participate in Mega Millions.”
Really? Are residents of two of the most populous counties, Bernalillo and Santa Fe, walking over to Texas to buy Mega Millions tickets because they can't get them here? That rationale might have some weight in Las Cruces or Clovis or Hobbs. Here's betting nobody in Socorro or Grants even knows what they're missing, much less cares.
Former Republican Gov. David Cargo, a one-time Lottery Board member, has called the games “kind of the rainbow of the poor” that offers them a little hope of rising above their circumstances. Of course spending your money on a lottery ticket is a matter of choice. When you're unemployed, on public assistance and the breadwinner for a family, it's a bad choice. New Mexico's working poor already have enough of those.
Perhaps some people will find discretionary income by limiting their vices, say giving up a six pack or a carton of cigarettes, in order to play the new game. Then again, human nature being what it is, that's about as likely as winning a Mega Millions jackpot.
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