Dallas, TX—
You know folks in Dallas are a little crazy. Now the NAACP there is blaming the Lotto for keeping poor folks poor."It's the poor people, the uneducated people who spend the most on the lottery," said Juanita Wallace, president of Dallas NAACP, "and it's not going the way they thought it was going to go."
So her chapter voted to call on the state to get rid of the Texas Lottery. While they're at it, why don't they call on those so-called "uneducated people" buying tickets to get an education? It'd probably be about as effective.
Lottery fans in Dallas don't seem to agree with the NAACP. Chandra Caldwell, who has been known to buy a Lotto ticket on occasion, said, "It gives people opportunities to win extra money they don't have, especially in this economy."
Robert Ligans, who had just cashed in a winning ticket, said, "I think it's a good thing... so as long as I'm winning, I'm good."
It's always good when you're winning, right? But the odds are that you will lose, and that is why Wallace said, "They need to shut it down. People need to go about using their money to make their lifestyle better."
For what? Health insurance? Who does she think she is-- the Supreme Court?!
The Texas Lotto was initally started to help fund education, but Wallace said that was just a ruse, "They may be putting a little into education, but we do know it's not all going to education like initially it was stated in 1992 when they first started here in Texas."
Texas Republicans seem to support the Dallas NAACP, stating in their 2012 platform they "oppose gambling" and "recognize the failure of the lottery as a funding source for education," calling it "a regressive tax on the poor."
So who willl win out? The poor folks giving up $3.5 billion each year buying tickets or the Lottery who gives a billion of that to state? Odds are you already know.
