Perdue on the lottery
As I mentioned in an earlier post, I had a sit-down with Lt. Gov. Bev Perdue, who is one of two candidates running as Democrats for governor.
Earlier this year, I interviewed her opponent, Richard Moore. Click here for that post.
As with Moore, I'm going to roll out some audio from the interview. Also, I hope to turn out a Q+A story for the newsprint edition sometime in the next few weeks.
Until I get to doing that, here's a preview:
Perdue is serving her second term as Lt. Governor and has had the opportunity to break a tie in the Senate only once, but it was a doozy. Perdue's vote essentially created the state lottery.
Today, the lottery is not performing up to expectations and has already helped send a couple folks to jail.
So, in hindsight, does she regret her vote?
Perdue started her answer talking about education, but eventually got to, "...I've never regretted it at all." She pledged to watch how the lottery funds are used and make sure they didn't supplant tax dollars.
"The more money that we have to insure that every child in this state has a chance to be somebody is good money," she continued later.
Click here to listen to the full take. (Approximately 3 minutes.)
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"The more money that we have to ensure that every child in this state has a chance to be somebody is good money," she continued later.
Perdue's statement on the state lottery ignores some important facts. As the New York Times reported, marketing firms and retailers take a big chunk of the lottery money before the schools even see a dime. Not to mention the fact that gambling addiction is a serious problem that tears apart families and robs children of their chance to "be somebody."
The lottery is just a way for politicians to raise money without taking the unpopular step of increasing taxes. But actually improving the state's schools will take more political courage than Perdue demonstrated with her tie-breaking vote. The lottery is just a temporary fix.
Posted on October 11, 2007 5:57 PM
"The more money that we have to ensure that every child in this state has a chance to be somebody is good money," she continued later.
Perdue's statement on the state lottery ignores some important facts. As the New York Times reported, marketing firms and retailers take a big chunk of the lottery money before the schools even see a dime. Not to mention the fact that gambling addiction is a serious problem that tears apart families and robs children of their chance to "be somebody."
The lottery is just a way for politicians to raise money without taking the unpopular step of increasing taxes. But actually improving the state's schools will take more political courage than Perdue demonstrated with her tie-breaking vote. The lottery is just a temporary fix.
Posted on October 11, 2007 5:58 PM
"The more money that we have to ensure that every child in this state has a chance to be somebody is good money," she continued later.
Perdue's statement on the state lottery ignores some important facts. As the New York Times reported, marketing firms and retailers take a big chunk of the lottery money before the schools even see a dime. Not to mention the fact that gambling addiction is a serious problem that tears apart families and robs children of their chance to "be somebody."
The lottery is just a way for politicians to raise money without taking the unpopular step of increasing taxes. But actually improving the state's schools will take more political courage than Perdue demonstrated with her tie-breaking vote. The lottery is just a temporary fix.
Posted on October 11, 2007 5:58 PM