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The good thing is that many of these issues and allegations are quickly coming to light and results have followed.

I noticed a new business going up in the High Point area. They already have a sign advertising that they sell lottery tickets. The sign is covered for now, but the writing is literally on the wall.

I saw that sign, too. I thought I was hallucinating.

For those of us opposed to a lottery it's past time to put out the fire and call in the dogs. But, I suspect that time will prove Rob Christensen wrong.

Just for fun, try putting the words 'lottery' and 'scandal' in an internet search engine. You will run out of time and interest before you run out of links. Lotteries are a toxic mix of politics and money and it's only a matter of time after the lottery comes that corruption follows.

The sad part of it all is that a lottery is essentially a new tax, the impact of which will fall disproportionately on the poor. The odds of winning are about the same as of Barbara Streisand voting Republican. So, at the end of the day you are left with the ugly practice of the state running a suckers game on it's citizens.

It is naive to think that lottery funds will all go dollar for dollar into improving schools and public projects. With this source of revenue politicians can avoid asking voters to make hard choices on taxation and use these funds to put off increasing taxes or expanding public spending.

We may end up marginally better off, but lotteries are a form of moral bankruptcy we can do without.

For those of us opposed to the lottery it's past time to put out the fire and call in the dogs. However, I believe that Rob Christensen is wrong in calling it a winner for North Carolina.

Try entering the words 'lottery' and 'scandal' in a search engine. You will run out of time and interest before you finish reading every case about the toxic mix of politics and money that is the lottery. This is consistently true not only in the United States but around the world.

The lottery is essentially a new form of tax, one whose burden falls disproportionately on those least able to afford it. Given that your chances of winning are roughly that of Barbara Streisand becoming a Republican, what the state is doing is essentially running a sucker's game on it's own citizens. Undoubtedly revenue will be raised, but is this the way we want to raise it?

It is foolish to believe that lottery revenues go dollar for dollar after expenses to better schools and other worthwhile programs. A lottery, being a hidden tax, provides politicians a means of avoiding making hard cuts or tax increases by transferring some of the burden for supporting government from wealthier citizens to the less well off.

Citizens and politicians should understand that being a good citizen means paying for the services we benefit from and participating in the hard choices that have to be made. Intuitively, we should realize that no good can come from short cuts to this process at the expense of our most vulnerable citizens.

I agree, but it's hard to argue with the polls. The people want a lottery.

Sorry for the double post. The first one didn't appear to go through.