Is state gambling a tax on the poor?

[Az]

Your government sure is evil, kuci.

[Kuciwalker]

This is how all governments work.

[Agathon]

Lotteries are an instrument of social control. They help keep the dispossessed in check by giving them some small and illusory hope of wealth.

[Zkribbler]

Sorry Agathon, but I don't think State governments are that smart. State politicians see easy money & no political risk. End of story.

[chequita guevara]

Originally posted by Zkribbler
I don't think State governments are that smart.

Unintended consequences are still consequences. Also, while state governments do some pretty boneheaded things, they can be just as cunning as the Feds about keeping the proles down.

[Ben Kenobi]

I've long claimed that a small tax should be imposed on candy, and unhealthy eats.

The problem is who defines what is healthy and what is not?

Any one food, if eaten alone is unhealthy, especially if one leads a sedentary lifestyle.

What I see is that the food favoured by poorer folks gets labelled unhealthy, while the food wealthy folks can afford gets subsidised. Case in point would be organically grown produce.

[chequita guevara]

Originally posted by Ben Kenobi
The problem is who defines what is healthy and what is not?

Nutritional dieticians, duh! Maybe if you religionistas weren't so anti-science this would have been a really easy question for you.

[RGBVideo]

Gambling against casinos is a stupidity tax, not simply a tax on the poor.

Nutritional dieticians, duh!

Pretty much everything is unhealthy if you consume it too much. Human body needs fat, you know.

[Theben]

Gambling is for people who can't do math.

Often those people are poor.

So yes it's a poor ppl tax, but maybe they'll avoid the casinos a little more often for it.

[aneeshm]

Call me old-fachioned , but I believe in the principle of personal responsibility . Which meahs that if you gamble , it is your own responsibility . Gambling is not a tax on anyone , because it is not coercive ( don't gamble , nothing happens to you , but don't pay tax , and very very bad things are done to you ) . Thus , if the poor ( or the rich , or blacks , or women , or unionists , or ###### ) gamble , it is thier own responsibility , and any mess-ups as a result their own fault .

Gambling is for those who have not a grasp of mathematics . Statistics say that the poor gamble more . What does this say about the poor's mathematical ability ? is what JohnT asks .

[Ben Kenobi]

Nutritional dieticians, duh! Maybe if you religionistas weren't so anti-science this would have been a really easy question for you.

I saw the tax that Detroit is considering to put against fast food in Detroit. Somehow it seems wrong to charge more for big macs alone, since that is a tax not levied on other businesses.

[chequita guevara]

Every city I've lived in has a sales tax on food bought at resteraunts. Chicago has an additional 1% sales tax on non-alcoholic beverages.

[Agathon]

Sorry Agathon, but I don't think State governments are that smart. State politicians see easy money & no political risk. End of story.

I never said they did it on purpose. After all, to cite another example, state subsidizing of rugby clubs in NZ (through tax breaks) was not intended to give Tory windbags a pulpit, but it did.

[MrFun]

Originally posted by Lancer
She wishes! She's working 2 jobs. I'm ahhh, working on getting a job.

good-for-nothing homebody

[Lancer]

you rang?