Far left blames clever ads for welfare money spent on lottery tix, to which we say, 'Scratch this'

Fast on the heels of revelations this week that (surprise, surprise) people on welfare and food stamps spend a huge amount of money on lottery tickets, a Democratic lawmaker from Maine blamed the lottery's clever advertising campaign.

We guess they didn't hear the message at the end of the ad that says "Please play responsibly."

We would think that would entail "not spending junior's lunch money on $100 worth of Bucket of Bucks tickets."

We guess we're all just so many Flip Wilsons - "I can't help myself" - when we watch or hear those oh-so-clever commercials that pull us in like a Siren's song.

C'mon man.

First off, the commercials aren't that clever. Does anyone really think it's feasible that some guy or gal on TANF and food stamps was really on their way to a job interview at McDonald's then heard one of those snappy ads "Be a millionaire" then took a detour into the 7-11, bought $100 bucks of Bucket of Bucks tickets and a 40 of Bud and decided to forego the job search.

Wait a minute. Have you seen those Budweiser ads? They're way more clever than the Maine lottery ones.

The article by Pine Tree Watchdog is sure to pour gasoline on the fire in the state to clamp down on welfare and food stamp recipients who squander their money on lottery, gambling and booze instead of spending it on their children.

Oftentimes, people on welfare aren't even breaking the law when they gamble. For instance, it's legal for them to spend money on lottery sales, but not at a privately run casino, the article stated. That's wrong. They shouldn't be spending any money on the lottery while they're on public assistance. Period.

But the fact that they are helps explain why so many of their children are going hungry on the weekend when they're not getting free breakfast and lunch at school.

Because their parents are spending it on booze and gambling.

The article showed that Mainers on TANF, food stamps and MaineCare won $22 million between 2010 and 2014, according to a DHHS memo.

But to win that they had to have spent hundreds of millions of dollars of your tax money, said one lottery expert.

Adding salt to the wound, many of these recipients of large cash prizes continued to receive and use TANF, food stamps and other benefits.

Here's an idea whose time has come. All welfare recipient purchases should be made with a debit card that would reject all charges for booze, cigarettes and gambling.

"Oh, these people need cash," some say, for rent or this or that.

Yeah, the this or that, it's plain to see, is booze, cigarettes and gambling. Oh yeah, and drugs.

If you think the drugs accusation is politically incorrect it's backed up by law enforcement, who have confiscated EBT cards along with cash and drugs in many Maine drug arrests.

Of course, anyone who would've posited these type comments prior to the report would've been politically incorrect and chastised by the far left.

Don't get us wrong. We don't care if you want to be politically correct, as long as it's with your own money.

To read the fascinating report in the Pine Tree Watchdog, click here.

- HT