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Robert A. Mills

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Blogs by Robert A. Mills

PLAY ON, GEORGIA!
9/28/2009 12:05:45 PM

I recently forgot to buy a lottery ticket, and I am suffering pangs of guilt. Attribute my negligence to creeping senility or lack of concern for my fellow man, a form of dementia wherein I can’t care less about the welfare of friends, relatives or neighbors—-such as when I say to myself, “To hell with health care reform! It’s every man for himself!”

The Georgia Lottery, however, is a horse of a—-wait a minute: a ticket of different numbers. If it weren’t for the Georgia Lottery and its funding of the Hope Scholarships, it’s possible my youngest daughter, Alex, might not . . .

1. Have attended and graduated from the University of Georgia,
2. Have fallen love with and married a fellow UGA alumnus,
3. Be teaching 3rd Grade at St. George’s in Memphis, while her husband becomes a DDS . . .

(among the first four things that pop into my head. There are others.)

Students who are bona fide Georgia residents and maintain a 3.0 grade average, or better, in high school may attend any public or private college or university here and receive specific tuition compensation, Hope-mandatory fees, and a book allowance—-assuming he or she is accepted at the institution “hoped” for.

In Alex’s case, her first choice was UGA, arguably the most prestigious university in the state, and based on her high school achievements and anticipated major course of study, she was accepted upon application.

But had it not been for funding by the Georgia Lottery, the Hope Scholarship would not have been waiting for her. Thanks to former Governor Zell Miller, the Georgia Lottery for Hope was passed in January 1991, and when she began college in 2003, she was but one of 222,632 recipients past and present who shared in the largess of $405 million. By the time she graduated in 2007 there were 207,402 more recipients accounting for over $452 million!

As of September 2009, Hope has paid out $4.7 billion in scholarship monies. Today the Georgia Lottery Corporation sells tickets worth more than a billion dollars each year. 50% of that goes back to the public in prizes and 1/3 goes to funding the Hope Scholarships. Do the math; 33.3% of a billion is about $333 million. Per average year!

Tuition, fees and books at UGA over Alex’s four years, according to the Bursar’s Office, would have cost us several thousands of dollars. Hope paid it all. Of course, living expenses on- and off-campus were our responsibility, but it was a drop-in-the-bucket by comparison. Are you beginning to see why I feel guilty about forgetting to buy a lottery ticket?

Here’s a thought: everyone with a fragment of a brain knows we are being blatantly hosed by the health care industry—-reform is sorely needed. The current Administration has come up with a workable, sensible plan the opposition is fighting because they did not think of it first and disdain the idea of crediting one not their own. They say a fly in the ointment is how to pay for it (no matter what the President says, the Whiners and Maligners do not believe him: “You lie!”)

The solution could be as simple as structuring a National Lottery, a la the Hope. That, combined with the Fair Tax Plan, would achieve a nearly Utopian America. Not only could we fund a national health plan that would diminish our ignominious 37th place standing in the world community, we could entirely do away with the IRS.

Just think: 1st Class Health Care for everyone--plus no income taxes! Just a National Lottery and the Fair Tax Plan.

Will it ever come to pass? Get real. It would be the political power death knell for Republicans, Democrats and Independents alike. The so-called Christian Right would collapse with apoplexy: “Gambling! Are you mad?”

What would Congress and the White House do if all they had on their plates were the administration of a lottery and simple sales tax? Worse than that, what would MSNBC and the Fux News Network have to talk about?

Oh, yeah, did I ever win the lottery? What do you think?

Copyright © 2009 by Robert A. Mills

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