Governor Easley has turned into the ultimate huckster. The suckers in North Carolina won’t buy enough lottery tickets, so, like a shill in a carny, he wants to jack up the prizes apparently on the theory that if he baits the hook with enough fool’s gold the suckers will part with more of their money.

But consider this: only 35% of the money from the lottery goes to education. Why not just give the poor a break and tax them? That way the government could use 90% of the money for education, it would cost the poor less, and we’d be relieved of the spectacle of the governor acting like a snake oil salesman.

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