Don't Forget the Can

A vital part of the Can The Lottery Plan is an effort to expand charity and volunteerism throughout California. The basic idea, as outlined at the Can The Lottery website, is for people to stop buying lottery tickets and instead use the money they save to buy canned goods to donate to the organization of their choice (thereby keeping money away from politicians who spend it without responsibility or accountability, while also helping those in need). Or, if people chose to save their money altogether, we'd ask that they turn the dollars they save into corresponding acts of volunteerism.


To date, the posts on this blog have been focused on the state spending and budget mess that led to the formation of this endeavor. Today, I want to focus on our "softer" side.


In his most recent book DO THE RIGHT THING, former Arkansas governor and Presidential candidate Mike Huckabee talks about the voices calling for smaller government. However, he makes an important point: Smaller government can only be accomplished when the public takes on greater responsibilities. For example, he notes that a town filled with criminals would need a large police force. But, if the town's citizens acted responsibly, which is to say lawfully, then a smaller force would suffice.


Similarly, I don't believe that government is best suited to help those in need to get back on their feet. People lose their jobs, homes, and well-beings for countless reasons, and the idea that a government agency could create a "one-size-fits-all" program to help those people is fatally flawed. I also don't believe that there is anything charitable about forced charity. Indeed, that is only bound to breed contempt and widen the gap between haves and have-nots. I do believe that the most meaningful and valuable help comes from individuals within the community. We should not and must not complain about government's inaction without taking action ourselves. Charity and volunteerism don't just lift up the individuals helped by the acts. They improve the entire community. Done on a mass scale, they revitalize our country.

Rather than creating endless government programs, I would push for California to work with existing community groups and organizations (including faith based organizations) to provide a template and access for community members to donate their time and resources. I'd also suggest that the state increase the charitable deduction for state taxes, and create a system where volunteer hours can be applied to deductions.

I'm willing to bet that every one of us has been touched at some point by a random act of kindness performed for our benefit - some large, some small. It is these moments that bond communities together. Strong communities lead to strong towns and cities, which build strong states, which form strong nations. This is how the United States of America became the greatest nation on earth, and this is how we shall remain as such.

The Perils of Procrastination

It just kills me that the legislators in Sacramento are crowing about their weekend sessions and late nights, trying to pass a budget which would would be bad news for the state anyway. Are they expecting our sympathy, gratitude, or both?

Throughout my years, I've worked as a dishwasher, busboy, waiter, bartender, electrical supply warehouse worker, haunted house actor, dog track vendor, hot dog stand vendor, and - mercifully - for the last decade or so as a television producer. The one common thread through all of those professions is this: I COULDN'T LEAVE UNTIL THE JOB WAS DONE! Or, at least if I did leave before the work was finished, my time working there would soon be finished as well.

There are some people savvy enough to hide their lack of work, but eventually it piles up and tips over. For years, California's politicians having been "leaving the office early", worried more about their future campaigns than their state's future. Now, the work has piled up on them. But, they are allowing it to tip over onto us, their constituents, in the form of the massive tax increases proposed in the new budget, which at the time of this writing is being pushed towards passage.

There is a lesson to be learned in this, but it is up to us, the constituents, to administer and define the lesson. If we allow taxes to be raised, excessive spending to continue, and the perpetrators to remain in office, then the lesson will be: Procrastination is good.

If, however, we call our representatives to voice our discontent, cut off their funding by boycotting the lottery (using the money we save for charitable endeavors as outlined by Can The Lottery), and vote the perpetrators out of office, then the lesson will be: Do your job and do it well, or you will face serious consequences.

Which lesson sounds right to you?

CAN THE LOTTERY...The Plan!!

Enough is enough.

The California state government has apparently reached a compromise on a state budget, and it is not good news (details seen here). After years of excessive spending, done without responsibility or accountability, the state is mired in massive debt. The solution? Take more money from the people.

The budget promises the following:

- 2.5% - 5% across the board Income Tax increase
- 12 cents-per-gallan Gas Tax increase
- 1 cent on the dollar Sales Tax increase
- $210 reduction in the dependent tax credit

All this comes at a time when many Californians are struggling to get by on a daily basis, and when small businesses are fighting to stay alive. Our "representatives" either don't care about their constituents or simply are not listening.

We, the citizens of this state, seem to have a few choices. 1 - Refuse to pay taxes, facing additional fees and jail time. 2 - Refuse to work, keeping food off our families’ tables. 3 - Stop buying local products (to combat the sales tax), hurting local business. None of these seem particularly appealing, so here is the new plan....

CAN THE LOTTERY!

The state lottery was passed by voter initiative in 1984 to provide extra funding for schools. 25 years later, schools are still failing across the state, and lottery revenues allow state politicians to use general fund money for pet projects, failing programs, and skyrocketing state payrolls.

Our plan is simple. If you normally buy 3 lottery tickets in a week, start buying 2, or better yet 1 (or, of course, none). With the money you are saving, buy canned goods from the local store where you would normally purchase the lottery tickets and donate them to a local food kitchen, shelter, faith based organization, or other group you are proud to support. If canned goods aren't your thing, then buy candy and donate it to organizations such as Operation Gratitude (or any of their other needed items, listed at their website here).

If you are looking to save money, then apply those dollars to volunteer work. Buying 1 lotto ticket instead of 3? Then perform 2 volunteer acts, even simple "acts of random kindness".

PLEASE NOTE: This is not about a moral objection to the lottery. This stems from the outrage so many taxpayers have towards elected officials who, after years of reckless spending, are now demanding more of our hard-earned dollars.

For those who worry that these efforts will negatively affect public education funding, I understand that concern. However, I would offer the following:

- As seen here, a small percentage of the revenue from the lottery actually goes to local schools, where the funding is so crucially needed.
- Education should be at the top of the list in terms of necessary funding. We should not have to rely on people buying a lottery ticket in order to give a child a textbook.
- This is the key...Legislators will be forced with a choice: cut education (always unpopular) or cut excessive, inefficient and ineffective government programs. Which will they choose?

As part of these efforts, we are starting a website: http://www.canthelottery.com/, which will be coming soon. In the meantime, we'll post updates, thoughts, ideas and progress on this blog. Please also post YOUR comments here, and let us know your stories at the CAN THE LOTTERY FORUM. Saved on lotto tickets to buy a canned good? Let us know. Let your friends and neighbors know. Of vital importance, let your representatives know.

CAN THE LOTTERY! Feed the hungry, not the beast!!