BALTIMORE - Boarded-up homes, crumbling store fronts and police cameras with blue lights line the streets of Park Heights. It’s in one of Baltimore’s poorest ZIP codes, where the median household income is about $35,000.
Yet people spent $34 million on lottery tickets here in calendar year 2012 -- more than any other ZIP code in the state, a Capital News Service analysis found.
Evert Chapman, a truck driver from Park Heights, said he’s not surprised.
“We play to make some extra money,” said Chapman, 34, as he jotted down numbers on the back of a Keno ticket inside Hoffman’s Liquors on Park Heights Avenue. “I want some extra money. We all do.”
The Maryland Lottery has become the fourth largest source of revenue for the state, contributing $545 million last fiscal year, according to the lottery agency’s comprehensive financial report.
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16 comments:
Want some extra money? Stop wasting it on lottery tickets!!
Work more. Get a better education. Wonder how much welfare money is being spent on lottery?
bloody brilliant!
Thats because they`re buying them with WELFARE money the working people provide. This is part of OweBamas`redistribution of wealth!DUUUUUHHHH!!!
Let it be- often, these are the folks who use the most public services AND pay little to no taxes. Lottery proceeds are better than nothing~!
Its a good thing the government has outlawed mobster gambling rackets and schemes.
All but their own, of course.
It helps fight competition when you can put your competitors in prison for EXACTLY what you are doing, only on a much, much larger scale.
Their checks should be reduced for every penny they spend on alcohol, tobacco, lottery tickets, iPhones, and 22" rims.
The money should be just barely enough for them to make a decision - "If I have a cigarette, my daughter will die of starvation!". It is not intended to be able to survive on!
There is a mindset that says one can achieve wealth & all that's wonderful without having to put forth effort: deserved help from the government and a little luck can make it all happen. That $545 Million puts a dent in the monies hard workers have to pay to keep those unwilling to be self reliant.
Lowest incomes means THEY DON'T WORK. That doesn't mean they don't have money. Its OUR money that the govt gives them ... their called entitlements. The majority of the people that get these entitlements are and are called slugs, moochers, lazy, manipulators, scum bags. They are the same people that don't pay ANY taxes. They are people that Dems love because they keep voting for dems.Its a vicious circle and we are paying for it. I love giving all my hard earned money away to these fat, cart riders.
If you win, then a background check into your past government supplements should be checked and the Govt(ie the taxpayers) gets their money back first. They would back off wasting money then.
Welfare people don't want to work hard to get out of poverty they want the government to make them Rich.
Sad thing about this is they could have had so much more in life if only they would have applied theirself. They are all looking for a get rich quick trick. Hard work is the ticket that they need not a lottery ticket.
I kinda missed the part where it said everyone with a median income of 35000 or lower is on welfare.. I guess everyone on here is a success story with a six figure career.. stereotyping everybody on assistance is a quick unreasonable way of thinking.. Is the parent of a child with disabilities lazy?? What about the head of household that was fired, laid off, or outsourced?? Farmers that are dealing with extreme weather changes and lose their entire crops.. All receive assistance..
Sadly, in Maryland, while it's a long shot...it is one of the only ways to escape poverty.
Wonder how a welfare recipient who won the lottery would feel if they redistributed their winning to others who didn't win?
Surprise, Surprise!
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