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Ed
Wood
"The Right Stuff"
Published Dec. 4, 2002 |
The devil is in the fine
print
How often have we seen the admonition "The devil is in
the fine print"? Well, it didn't take long for the fine
print to start showing up in the recently approved lottery amendment
to our State Constitution.
You faithful readers of these columns will recall that on
several occasions I wrote in opposition to the lottery. I did
not object on moral grounds, leaving that up to ministers and
others more qualified than I. My objection was based on faulty
accounting projections, and the misleading methods used to cover
them over.
I lived in Georgia when their lottery bill was passed. I saw
and heard the story used to make their scheme more palatable
to potential voters. The same one used here; that the lottery
will provide the necessary funds to furnish educational scholarships,
and thus improve our children's chances for success in later
life. A noble cause, no doubt.
Well, it hasn't worked out that way in Georgia, and isn't
likely to work that way here either. Already the request has
gone out to the Georgia General Assembly for general tax funds
to supplement the lottery shortfall. And the same prospect arises
here, even before our lottery program gets started!
Recently, the Kingsport Times News offered the following quotation
from East Tennessee State University President Paul Stanton Jr.:
"One thing to remember is that for every student, it costs
approximately $8,000 a year to educate a full-time student. Their
tuition, and what I would expect to be paid in a scholarship
package, would be approximately $3,000. So that leaves $5,000
more per student that has to be appropriated to make it work.
That, to date, has not been taken into consideration."
You want to read that again? The lottery revenue is expected
to offer $3,000 scholarships, each of which will require an additional
$5,000 supplement from general tax funds! And as Dr. Stanton
observes, "That, to date, has not been taken into consideration."
Senator Cohn, and other lottery sponsors, didn't tell us for
every $3 they spend, you will have to come with an additional
$5. Imagine that. Overlooked, I guess.
Now does that help you understand why I have expressed such
opposition to the lottery?
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Ed Wood is a resident of Sparta, TN. His column is published
each Wednesday in the Crossville Chronicle.
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