"Faith-based" liberals claim conservatives don't do enough to fight poverty. Actually, evidence shows that preserving strong marriages and families is one of the most effective anti poverty programs. However, if those who claim to speak for the poor really want to find "common ground" with us, a good place to start might be with opposing state sponsored gambling. Gambling addiction is a serious social problem that ruins lives and destroys families. The desire to get something for nothing also raises moral and spiritual questions. A study released last week by the Tax Foundation shows that state lotteries are bad fiscal policy as well. Legislators who want to increase government spending without paying a political price for raising taxes will point to the "voluntary" nature of lottery tickets, but taxing people's greed this way is a legal form of larceny by trick. Lotteries are often supposed to be earmarked for public education, but they end up replacing other revenue for that purpose rather than adding to it. They're not even effective at keeping taxes down, since lottery states actually have a higher tax burden than the eight remaining non lottery states. Most tragic, though, is the fact that lotteries are a regressive tax that hits the poor the hardest. Both liberals and conservatives should agree, state lotteries are a bad bet for the poor.
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