government racketeers

Illinois Is Putting Lottery on Block for Quick Payoff - New York Times--This is the second time the government has sold out the citizens--the first time is when they installed the legalized numbers racket in the first place. Now, they want to sell the racket they've supposedly legitimized, and they want to sell it to private investors.

First, they claim they can't get by without running a racket, then, they claim they need to sell it just to get by.

We need to cut them all loose. Notice in the article how they use the politically correct term "gaming," trying to put lipstick on the pig.

The state of Illinois yesterday took the first steps in selling its state lottery system, hoping to attract as much as $10 billion from investors who, in return, would own a monopoly that could turn out to be the biggest jackpot yet.
The sale, which may occur as early as the spring, would not be the first privatization of public property — both Chicago and Indiana have recently earned billions of dollars by signing long-term leases with private companies to run toll roads. But the proposed lottery sale is almost certain be one of the largest privatizations of a state-run program, and it raises concerns that states, some of them critically short of cash, are selling valuable assets that could otherwise provide consistent streams of revenue.

Under the proposed sale, Illinois would receive a multibillion-dollar one-time payment, and the lottery’s new owners would receive all revenue and profit for 75 years.

Indiana is also considering selling its lottery, and bids are due later this month. That sale is expected to raise more than $1 billion upfront and annual payments of $200 million. Midway Airport in Chicago, toll roads in Pennsylvania and the New Jersey Turnpike are all potentially on the block.