Deal ’em in

MISSISSIPPI is joining the club of separating people from their hard-earned money, and it’s all under the guise of repairing highways and bridges. The Associated Press reports Mississippi’s lawmakers approved a state lottery Tuesday, knocking the number of states without a lottery from six to five.

Deal our Bible Belt neighbor in—into a game in which low-income residents lured by the (improbable) possibility of riches get separated from their paychecks in a gawd-awful desalination process that leaves far too many people unable to pay their rent and eager to play some more.

Religious folk have long kept the devil of the lottery out of Mississippi, but this year Republican Gov. Phil Bryant pushed hard for it, desperate for that road money.

“Mississippi lawmakers rose to the occasion,” Gov. Bryant tweeted upon seeing the final tally.

Or maybe they knelt to the occasion. Lawmakers there looked at a state where the median income is ranked last in the nation and said, “You know what these poor people need? Another addictive drug that vacuums money.”

What changed? AP reports the bill initially died in the Mississippi House 60 to 54. But the people of Mississippi found their voice and contacted legislators with an apparent furor that could not be overcome. Here’s what some lawmakers said about changing their votes.

“Every time I go to the grocery store, ‘Bill, we need the lottery,’” Republican Rep. Bill Denny said.

“My people have contacted me,” Democratic Rep. Greg Holloway said. “They want the lottery and I want them to have what they want.”

So much for leadership.

It seems Mississippians didn’t have enough places to blow their money, what with all the casinos in the state. Now they’ll have the lottery in every gas station and grocery store to help offload those finances.

Will the money really improve highways in that state? Or will money, always fungible, be switched around to fund lawmakers’ pet projects?

Now that’s a gamble.