Poor Finally Paying Their Fair Share
September 4th, 2007 at 8:56 am by Preston Taylor HolmesI’ve always been partly amused and partly befuddled when well-meaning leftists claim that the wealthy in America have “gotten rich of the backs of the poor,” as if such a thing is actually possible. Sure, that’s true of John “Channeling the Spirits of Dead Babies since 1982″ Edwards, but for the most part, it’s just a class-warfare talking point that is easily filed away with the rest of the left’s talking points in the nearest recycle bin.
It’s recently been exposed that the blessed Tennessee Lottery, fought for by good liberals like Memphis’ own mentally deranged Steve Cohen, has enabled well-off white kids to go to college off the backs of the poor. Finally! It’s about damn time the poor paid their fair share and though I originally regretted my Lottery YES vote, I’m feeling better about it now.
At the same time, counties with more black and poor residents usually end up buying more of the very tickets used to fund the scholarships, according to a statistical analysis by the Scripps Howard News Service using data from the U.S. Census and the Tennessee Education Lottery Corp.
On the behalf of crackers all across the state, thank you, black and poor.
Students from high-income families, meanwhile, are far more likely to keep their scholarships from one year to the next.
I wish I could find some way to blame Bush for that, but instead I’ll just blame Tennessee’s racist, white, male, elitist, ruling class, who handed the blessed Lottery to the poor in a poorly-disguised scheme to keep them poor and subservient.
It’s really a fantastic scheme. Non-stop TV and radio ads for the Lottery’s hot new games convince the poor and uneducated that they will not only become rich, but will have FUN IN AN INSTANT! And after they have FUN IN AN INSTANT, all those well-off white kids can get a free ride to college, while those who can’t cut it drop out and go to beauty school.
I repeat, it’s about damn time.
September 4th, 2007 at 12:31 pm
Ahhh yes.. the curse of being a liberal. They “hate” the rich (even though they themselves are) and want to “help” the poor (but not too much). They cannot allow the poor to get too far ahead otherwise they lose their constituents and they have noone to stand up for.
As a Conservative, I want everyone to get ahead and make the best of each and every opportunity that freedom offers. Liberals simply want to keep you under their thumb while making your feel they are protecting you against the evil rich man.
Unfortunately, gambling (including lotteries) usually negatively impacts the poor. They are so desperate to find a quick fix to their poverty that they throw common sense out the window and spend hard-earned (or welfare) dollars on these types of get-rich-quick solutions.
September 4th, 2007 at 12:31 pm
An old friend of mine came up to visit recently and brought me a $2 scratch off from TN. I won $3 bucks on it. Now that’s what I call stickin’ it to the poor!
September 4th, 2007 at 3:36 pm
While we’re leading a horse to water that he refuses to drink, might as well give the kiddies a free ride, huh?
Oh. That’s mean. I’m not mean like that.
September 4th, 2007 at 5:11 pm
The BEST part of the story; when the journalist informed the reader how the Pilot store on Magnolia Ave sells lotto tickets to mostly black people; and how sales are usually busiest at the beginning of the month. OH! and can’t forget the couple who walked in and spent $1000.00 on lotto scratch tickets and didn’t win more than what they spent.
Yes, it was golden, indeed.
September 4th, 2007 at 7:24 pm
I know what you mean about those hypnotic Lottery ads. If you listen real close, you can hear jungle drums in the background.
September 4th, 2007 at 8:33 pm
Heh – jungle drums. That’s a serious Tennessee insider political reference. Sweet.
September 4th, 2007 at 11:01 pm
Back in ’85 when they were shoving the Lottery down our throats here in Kaifornya, the tag line was always “Our schools win too!”. What a load of shit that was. I have yet to see a school that has been built on state lottery funds here. Damn-near every election cycle there is a new proposition to throw money at skoolz and edjumukashun with an increase in sales tax. My first thought is always, “What about the damn lottery funds?!”
September 5th, 2007 at 9:13 am
They could be using the lottery funds to save Dafur!
Oh, and global warming.