Before the lottery, gambling was a crime and bookies were criminals. The lottery has legalized a former crime and now the state is the biggest bookie ever. How many people have become addicted to gambling, especially scratch tickets? If you think about it long and hard enough, the lottery is basically voluntary taxation. And remember the first law of gambling — the house always wins.
With Massachusetts’ new casinos and the expansion of marijuana shops throughout the state, there will be more people addicted to marijuana and gambling. The state tax collectors must be salivating over all the new taxes that will be coming in.
Just a reminder to anyone demanding new gun laws and gun control, the bad guys don’t care about laws.
When pay-to-view television first arrived, the big selling point was no commercials. Now it seems 20 percent to 25 percent of every program is taken up by commercials. Radio has become just as bad.
Will the state ever collect enough taxes to possibly lower the sales tax or income tax?
A suggestion to all litterbugs: Recycle your nip bottles, beer cans, water bottles, soda cans, and cigarette packages.
Philip Randazzo
Lynn