If North Carolina republican lawmaker Paul Stam gets his way it appears that the poor must begin identifying themselves before Playing the lottery.
A North Carolina lawmaker is pushing to ban lottery ticket sales for those on welfare or in bankruptcy, a proposal that would affect more than 1.7 people in the Tar Heel State.
According to the Raleigh News Observer, State Rep. Paul "Skip" Stam, a Republican from Wake, said he hopes to bring the proposal during the upcoming legislative session.
“We’re giving them welfare to help them live, and yet by selling them a ticket, we’re taking away their money that is there to provide them the barest of necessities," Stam said.
There is a debate to be had about the logic of buying a lottery ticket, but what the person does with their money is up to them. I hear GOP'ers say all the time 'they are not poor they have a cellphone, or a tv' and I wonder if they expect these people to literally own nothing? Obviously they have never tried to job hunt in modern society without a phone, or are wealthy enough that they do not have to use a television as a babysitter, or the only means of entertainment/stress relief. If someone wants to spend a dollar on a longshot chance at getting out of poverty, there is a hell of a lot more chance of that happening than the republicans doing anything about it.
Stam said the purpose of the ban was for the protection of consumers, whom he says fall prey to deceptive advertising by the lottery, which tends to attract lower-income people who don't understand that their chances of winning are slim.
Because obviously poor people are stupid, that is how they got to be poor in the first place.
As a State Rep, Stam is paid(or should I say 'given so he can live) with taxpayer money. So obviously they should go about regulating his purchases.