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| Soon to be no more? |
The people who lamely played their numbers (or let the ‘quick pick’ option do it for them) learned that their “jackpot” wasn’t going to come anytime in the near future. They’d have to get in line and wait like everybody else who does business with the state.
THAT,
I RECALL, ticked people off enough to file lawsuits demanding immediate payment
of their newly-found fortunes. They weren’t going to wait one minute for the
prize money they thought they were entitled to.
In
short, it was this relatively trivial aspect of state government finances that
caught the attention of the public and probably was the first bit of attention
many people paid to the fact that we have our government in operating mode
without any specific plan for how it is spending money.
The
lottery can do that for you; it will capture the attention of the public,
particularly those with no work ambition who seriously are banking their future
on the off-chance of a game-winning prize.
Perhaps
those kind of people who watch re-runs of the old “Roseanne” show and think that
program’s final season (in which she wins $108 million in the Illinois Lottery
and goes through many life-changing experiences) is their fantasy come true!
WHICH
IS WHY it was significant last week when reports indicated the state’s
financial problems are again impacting the lottery.
It’s
the Mega-Millions and Powerball games – those multi-state initiatives that the
Illinois Lottery cooperates with that, because so many people get involved,
have the potential to create such large prizes so quickly.
They’re
popular for those people who really want to dream about what they’d do with a
couple hundred million dollars, but wouldn’t have a clue how to earn money
legitimately.
It
seems the inability of the state to promptly pay its bills is causing
bureaucratic complications that will mean Illinois will no longer participate
in those particular games. The Illinois Lottery will go back to just its
standard weekly draws and its instant scratch-off games.
AFTER
WINNING ALL those millions, how are we going to get people to want to play when
the potential prize is an instant game $5?
It’s
literally like that old World War I-era jingle, “How Ya Gonna Keep ‘Em Down on
the Farm? After They’ve Seen Paree?” Or maybe we’ll be asked to believe that
these new lottery prizes are something special – like Paris, Ill., the Edgar
County town of some 6,100 people.
It
was interesting to see the Capitol Fax newsletter out of Springfield the other
day – as it published tidbits hinting it might actually be the state pulling
out of the lottery games, rather than the state being dumped.
Although
as WBBM-TV reported recently, the two games do kick back to the state a share
of the proceeds from tickets sold here – totaling some $122 million. Not a
petty sum.
BUT
ALSO NOT something that helps the state much since, without a formal budget in
place, we can’t spend the money on anything – except for those state programs
that have federal court orders insisting they operate regardless of the state’s
ineptitude.
I
can’t help but wonder how the outrage will be expressed. Will we literally get
people picketing for their right to play Powerball? Will the Mega Millions be
the issue that causes the public to put pressure on the politicos to get off
their derrieres and act?
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| Enough to make some of us honorary Hoosiers? |
Will we experience a continued sense of apathy? Or will we see the rush of people across the state line to Indiana, seeking out every convenience store, gas station and cheap smokes shop with a “Hoosier Lottery” sign so they can buy their Powerball tickets there?
Will
lottery tickets become like gasoline; something that people who live near the
border make a special trip across State Line Road to purchase because the local
option is just so ridiculous by comparison?
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