Taxing the Poor

The lottery is a tax on poor people and on people who can't do math. Rich people and smart people would be in the line if the lottery were a real wealth-building tool, but the truth is that the lottery is a rip-off instituted by our government. This is not a moral position; it is a mathematical, statistical fact. - Dave Ramsey, The Total Money Makeover: Classic Edition: A Proven Plan for Financial Fitness 

 

     In 1973, the Ohio Lottery Commission was created by a vote of the people of Ohio in an overwhelming margin. The following year, the first ticket, the “Buckeye 300,” went on sale that August. 

     The Ohio legislature earmarked lottery profits for education. Lottery profits are not sent directly to school districts; they go into the State's general fund to help fund education. Profits, what's left over after paying the winners, giving commissions to ticket sellers and administrative expenses, actually amount to less than one-third of the sales. And, that one-third is only a fraction of the cost of running the state's educational system. 

     While it is true that lottery profits are used to fund education, the politicians have been known to tell lies about the lottery. For example, back in 2012 the profit from increased sales was used to free up other state funds when the lottery profit was transferred into the State’s rainy day fund. The politicians played a shell game by simply moving money around in the budget so they kept the extra lottery profits rather than sending it to the schools.

     Some people spend ridiculous amounts of their hard earned money on a minuscule chance they will win enough money to live the lifestyle of the rich and famous. As the prize fund goes up in those mega-million lotteries the odds of winning get smaller...a lot smaller than they already were. 

     More people are buying tickets and in a recent lottery the chance of winning was 1 in 300 million. You have better odds of other things happening to you, but those odds don't look like something you want to happen. 

 

1 in 3,000 - getting struck by lightning once in your lifetime 

1 in 11.5 million - getting attacked by a shark 

1 in 700,000 - a woman giving birth to identical quadruplets 

1 in 12,500 - hitting a hole-in-one on a par 3 hole 

1 in 9,821- being in an airplane crash

 

     That one-third that actually makes its way to the schools is nowhere near enough to pay the the state's educational costs. Still, if it wasn't for lottery ticket sales the money that the lottery does contribute to schools would have to be made up somehow. Like the lottery itself, you just can't win!