Utah needs to wake up, get its own lottery

Editor,

If the Utah government would get its head out of the sand and use some common sense, our taxes wouldn’t be such a burden and we’d have loads of money for schools and other services.

Why can’t we have a lottery like people have in Idaho? We have some of the best race horses in the West right here in Utah and we have to travel to Wyoming or Idaho to bet on them.

People will gamble, even if they have to go great distances to do so. Why not keep that money right here in Utah instead of giving it to Nevada, Wyoming and Idaho? Those states put our money to great use, while we are taxed to death.

People can’t be shamed into not doing something they enjoy just because some think it’s wrong. There are worse things than making a $2 bet on a horse or buying a $2 lottery ticket. It’s no worse than overeating, if it’s done in moderation. I don’t think we could call either one a sin.

Also, we could do a great service to the environment if we could buy lottery tickets at the corner gas station or bet on a horse at the fairgrounds. How many tons of pollution are we spewing into the atmosphere traveling out of state to make a wager? What about all the money we are wasting buying fuel? The gas costs more than the tickets.

The myth that Mormons don’t bet was uncovered when the one running for president tried to make a $10,000 wager right on national TV!

Utah needs to wake up and live in the real world.