Government

First, I’ll state the obvious, I don’t know all the details in this story nor do I really care about the details.  What little info I have is coming from what I read here and there. This is just my opinion and I’m entitled to it.  Every time I hear something about this story it pisses me off just a little bit more.

Apparently, the gridlock from political foes in the Illinois government has created this mess where they sell tickets to people who have such a minute chance of winning and yet someone does.  Then the state refuses to pay the winners over $600..  That’s BULLSHIT! Complete and utter BULLSHIT!

Illinois has not been paying lottery winners of $600 or more since October, due to a state budget impasse between the Republican governor and the Democratic-controlled legislature. The state has continued to advertise games, sell tickets and hold lottery drawings. 
The political stalemate has left the state without a budget for the fiscal year that began on July 1. Illinois had initially stopped paying winners of $25,000 or more in September.    Source

I don’t live in Illinois, I don’t shop in Illinois and I don’t buy lottery tickets in Illinois.  I’m not sure why this bothers me so much.  I doubt the political assassination of the opposite party to the detriment of their own constituents will ever end and that’s a shame.  They will do ANYTHING to shoot the other party down no matter what.  Then they stand on their high horse and gloat about how good they are and all that they’ve accomplished.

A class action suit by the unpaid winners against the lottery has now been sent into settlement talks by a U.S. District Judge. (same source article as above)  You know as well as I do that they will try to reduce the payout to those who were fortunate enough to win the lottery.

 If a judge had any balls he’d stop ALL lottery sales until the previous winners have been paid.  Then, I wonder how long this political impasse would last.