Some states consider leasing their lotteries (more privatization)

[antigop]

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/14/business/14private.html

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AS chief operating officer of the California Department of Finance, Fred Klass gets pitches from Wall Street bankers as often as the rest of us might get cold calls from telemarketers or insurance agents. But when Kathleen Brown of Goldman Sachs came to his office earlier this year and suggested privatizing the state lottery, Mr. Klass listened closely.

It wasn’t merely because Ms. Brown happened to be a former state treasurer as well as the daughter of one famous California governor and the sister of another. What really appealed to him was the bonanza that Ms. Brown said the state might snare by leasing its lottery: a cool $14 billion to $18 billion.

Within days, another major investment bank, Lehman Brothers, pitched an even bigger payday: up to $37 billion. Soon, Mr. Klass was studying proposals from a Who’s Who of Wall Street firms, all with the same basic premise: lease out the lottery and reap a multibillion-dollar windfall for California’s perennially pressed coffers.

“What got people’s attention were the big numbers being thrown around,” says Mr. Klass. “Those are big-enough numbers that you just have to take a look.”

Within weeks of Ms. Brown’s initial pitch, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger formally proposed leasing his state’s 23-year old lottery to an outside operator. Last Tuesday, Mr. Schwarzenegger reiterated his support, urging that money from a lottery sale be used to finance health care reform in his state.
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[glowing]

1. Why wouldn't this be illegal.. Where is the regulation? How will the

game be rigged..

Think about this: If a few guys got caught playing a game of craps and taking small bets, it would be against the law... its gambling...

Now some people have decided to allow their state, by vote, to use a lottery system for the benefit of the state for financing things like schools etc.

To me privatizing the lottery by Goldman Sachs is as legal as the crap players.. Besides, why lease the lottery for these instant billions, when financial analysts understand that Goldman Sachs will end up making a lot of money off the lottery (and probably rig the shit out of it).

If I was a lawyer, I'd def. want to take on this case... As a Floridian, I hope Crist understands not to take the dough and privatize even more in this wretched state.