Lotteries manifest all the elements of bad taxation

Preview:

A decade-and-a-half ago, as a new governor confronting a chronically unbalanced budget and a massive debt owed to schools, universities and localities, I sought to lighten a fiscal brainstorming session by saying, “Hey, I know a great new revenue source. We’ll put the state in the cigarette business. We’ll call ’em ‘Hoosier Smokes.’ The margins will be terrific and the take enormous.”

Originally published: April 9, 2019