by Structured Settlement Watchdog
Factoring company Prosperity Partners reported on PPI Cash Blog that the Tennessee legislature "has looked to make living difficult for those reeling under poverty". A committee hearing on Wednesday is likely to discuss a bill which would prevent anyone receiving federal or state assistance (i.e. welfare) from winning $ 600 or excess in Tennessee state lottery payments.
The gist of the proposed bill is that those who cannot afford basic necessities and rely on public assistance should not be spending money on lotteries. PPI says that "people say that the government need not tell them how to spend their money". PPI suggests the Bill is inequitable because it treats those who are unemployed and those on welfare differently.
PPI goes on to say that "recent studies have concluded that the poor spend most percent of their income on lottery tickets than wealthier people. It's the old "dollar and a dream" concept, an effort to get out of poverty, even if winning odds are extremely slim.
According to PPI, the State of Tennessee review has found:
- that nearly 50% of those individuals who received food stamps from state purchase lottery tickets.
- Nearly half of them are expected to stop playing if the bill is passed.
- PPI hopes the Tennessee legislature will not try to expand bill that prohibits large lottery winnings to those people who get state unemployment checks. The operative quote is "though remaining unemployed is difficult enough, remaining poor and unemployed is still worse".
CommentSo let me get this straight. It's a national scandal when public corporations take "welfare" (a.k.a. TARP) and spend it on business development that might actually create jobs, but it's totally fine for some unlucky soul to blow government money on a one-in-a-million shot at the jackpot. And when they inevitably lose, guess who gets stuck withth the bill? The taxpayers. Classic.
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