Lottery Payouts: $319 Mil. Obscene-There Could Have Been 309 Other Millionaires In the U.S.

THE DOCTOR IS IN _______________

LAS VEGAS- Hello America, and how is the world treating you?

Lotteries, a chance for someone to beat the odds and live very well for the rest of their life. But, let's get real. There is no one person that needs to receive $319 million dollars to survive. Even if the Mega Millions jackpot, or any other lottery was split between 6, 7, or even 10 people I would suggest that it is still too much money for any one person or group to win. Come on! Use some common sense lottery officials.

Years ago, I wrote the Mega Millions and the Power Ball lottery and suggested that a cap be put on the amount a person can actually win. As suspected they did not respond in any way to my suggestion and inquiry. The lottery officials ignored the correspondence.

I proposed that the large lotteries operating in the United States cap the payout of the initial winning ticket at possibly $10 million dollars. Then, make millionaires out of the rest of the monies that were won in the lottery.

In the case of the recent win in New York, there would be 309 other people across the country that would have been millionaires. People, that is fair.

The plus side of an arrangement like this is that:

1. More people would buy lottery tickets knowing they have a better chance to become a millionaire. I would predict that lottery play would increase by ten fold if a cap was initiated.

2. Those other 309 millionaires across the country would be spending those dollars.

3. All of the money being put back into the economy by the newly made millionaires would clearly stimulate the economy.

4. Some of those newly made millionaires may even start businesses which in turn would benefit the economy.

My argument is that any person in this country can live very comfortable on $10 million dollars. If they can't, they surely do not need to win a lottery. But $319 million for one person or 5, 7, 8, or 10 people is obscene.

I suggest that if state lottery officials refuse to cap the amount of money paid to the initial winning ticket then the federal government and Congress should step in and mandate that a $10 million dollar win is sufficient for any one person or small group and then stipulate that the remainder of the lottery win be paid out in( one million dollar) increments to other winners. - And, that's my opinion. Make your own judgment and decisions. You decide.

Bradley W. Kuhns, Ph.D., O.M.D.
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Dr. Kuhns can be reached by e-mail at:
bradleykuhns@gmail.com