Time To Can The Lottery

It has been done.

Early this morning, the California state legislature passed the much maligned budget plan. Though the revised plan drops the previously suggested 12cent per gallon gas tax increase, it still includes a .25% across the board income tax increase, a 1cent on the dollar sales tax increase and a doubling of the car tax (along with a reduction in the dependent tax credit). These measures will take more money out of the hands of every California taxpayer [calculate your "share" here] without even pretending to address the underlying issues facing our state.

As Reuters reports, the state faces a $42billion deficit. This faulty plan tries to make up the costs by combining $24.2billion in tax increases and borrowing (including borrowing $5billion from expected future lottery revenues), and with $15billion in "spending cuts." One of the many problems with the plan, though, is that the cuts are not really cuts at all. As Reuters states in the above-referenced article: "They clamped down on spending by putting public works projects on hold, withholding payments to counties for social services and postponing tax refunds." That's the equivalent of you or I saying we will cut down our monthly expenses by stopping payments to our water, electric and credit card bills.

The biggest problem, though, goes beyond the simple act of raising taxes. We live in a state with a graduation rate of only 70% (and just 57% for African Americans), per the Alliance For Excellent Education, who also note that "Dropouts from the class of 2008 will cost California almost $42.1 billion in lost wages over their lifetimes."

We live in a state full of traffic congestion, yet the best our elected officials can offer is nebulous bond measures that lead to more confusion and no less traffic.

We live in a state with struggling or failing public hospitals.

We live in a state ranked with the 17th highest murder rate in America and an illiteracy rate higher than any other state.

Surely, before they increased taxes the politicians must have found ways to address these and numerous other problems, right? Not quite. Truthfully, real government reform was never even addressed.

The battle of the budget centered around spending cuts (favored by Republicans) and tax increases (favored by Democrats). Unfortunately, neither party focused on attaching real accountability to the taxpayers' money, aka the state's budget.

For programs or services to be successful, they need to have power, responsibility and accountability over the funds allocated to them. For example, when I was working my way up towards producing, there came a time when I was given responsibility over production budgets. But, I wasn't given the power to make changes I deemed necessary. I explained that I needed that power - willing, of course, to consult others - in order to fulfill my responsibility. I was given that power, and the projects came in on time, under budget, and creatively successful. I also had accountability. If the projects were over budget, I would likely lose my job.

The days of funding programs and services merely because they received money the year before have to end. Handing out dollars without clear instructions of what is expected in return must no longer occur.

California needed leaders who could reform government and improve our state. Instead, our politicians pushed through a sham of a budget that gives us the same old failures with one exception: THEY COST MORE!

Our elected officials failed, and will continue to fail as long as we keep subsidizing their efforts by sending our money into the state's piggy bank. The time has come to Can The Lottery.

Potential Impact

The question begs to be asked: Can we actually have any meaningful impact on the state? There is no doubt in my mind that we can. Consider the following:

* If 20,000 people who would normally spend $2 per week on the lottery instead spend $1/week over the course of a year, that would keep over $1million from going to the politicians

* If 15,000 people who would normally spend $5 per week spend $2, that would keep $2.34million out of state officials' hands

* If 10,000 people who would normally spend $10 per week spend $4, that keeps $3.12million away

* If 5,000 people who normally spend $20 per week (we know you're out there!) instead spend $5, that keeps $3.9million away

All total, that is well over $10,000,000 that the politicians would have to live without. Sound like a lot of people to recruit? Not when you consider that California's population is nearing 37 million!

Of course, politicians will claim that the money is coming out of education, but indeed we will be forcing them to cut down the general fund budget to make certain education is fully funded. As stated in an earlier post, public education is too important to be funded only if and when people spend enough on the lottery. It should be a top priority, not an after thought.

Admittedly, even $10million may not seem like much when compared to the over $1.4billion profit the state pulls in from the lottery, per their website. [On a side note, check out the statistics on the site - that 34 cents on the dollar from lottery revenue goes towards schools, but 61% of that goes towards salaries NOT to the local classrooms.]

But, even going up against a beastly revenue such as that, I guarantee you that politicians will quickly notice if $10million is missing from their coffers. They will pay attention to the voters, just as they should have been doing all along.

And, of course, if that $10million goes towards canned goods for the hungry or other charitable donations, many others are bound to pay attention as well...and they are likely to follow suit.