… a new reality TV series in which esthetically-unappealing restaurants and bars get a thorough critique and makeover, courtesy of that well-known Arbiter Of Style, State Sen. Tim Ashe.
The state Lottery Commission, bumping up against the market ceiling for its current offerings, is looking for more ways to scam the gullible raise money for Our Children’s Book-Learnin’. Our government-sanctioned dispensers of false hope would like to start putting electronic lottery machines — called, without a trace of irony, “WinStations” — in bars and restaurants. To date, the “lighted, arcade-style vending machines” (description from the VLC) are only available in convenience stores.
And some state lawmakers want to have a whack at the idea before it’s put into effect.
[Rep. Janet] Ancel, who chairs House Ways and Means, said she is not personally in favor of expanding the lottery. Putting lottery vending machines in bars, she said, is a “big step,” and the Legislature as a whole ought to review the proposal.
Sen. Tim Ashe, chair of the Senate Finance Committee, says the commission can’t go forward with consoles in restaurants and bars without the Legislature weighing in.
So far, so good. As you may have gathered, I have no particular love for government lotteries, which are egregiously regressive taxation schemes. If Ashe wanted to block any lottery expansion, cut it back (or end it altogether)(and fully fund public education from the General Fund), I’d be okay with that. However, he went on to kinda-sorta make an ass of himself:
“My own feeling is these things are like indoor billboards, they are completely vulgar,” Ashe said. “While they might have a place in a convenience store under today’s rubric, but in bars and restaurants they are just going to be garish.”
Tim Ashe, manning the barricades of style.
Heaven knows, we don’t want any traces of vulgarity to besmirch Vermont’s hallowed watering holes. I shudder to imagine the horror of an “arcade-style” machine destroying the homespun charms of, say, The Other Place or Charlie-O’s. We may have already lost the battle for the creative soul of Vermont’s convenience stores, but we must Draw The Line at our eateries and taverns, all of which are a delight to the eye as well as the palate. (Lookin’ at you, Handy’s Lunch.)
Need I say that Ashe’s argument is absurd? If VLC goes ahead with its plan, it’ll be up to individual owners whether they want a WIn Machine sitting on their bar. Market forces would take care of Ashe’s concerns: the corner bar will happily accept a lottery machine, and Hen of the Wood will, I’m thinking, give it a pass.
So, Tim: If you’re against expanded gambling, just say so. Don’t give us this pretentious arty nonsense.
but I agree that the whole idea is a little repellant.
Lotteries play on our most venal and pathetic instincts; and are actually indistinguishable from gambling, which we haven’t chosen to permit in Vermont.
That always seemed a little hypocritical to me.
I actually have a distant relative who is addicted to lotteries, so I have even more reason to reject them. They bring a lot of unhappiness to some families, just like conventional gambling.
Setting all that aside, Mr. Ashe’s remarks do not make him sound like the serious person we believe him to be.
preys upon the poor, desperate, hopeless, uneducated and those addicted to gambling. The State of Vermont (like other states) are the “house.”
They own this operation and encourage one and all to participate in this game of entertainment and validate it by saying proceeds go to education programs that benefit the CHILDREN.
Now that is vulgar and garish by any rubic.
…would be much better than pumping up a corrupt and wasteful Vt. Lottery system. Money for the Abenakis, tax and tourist income for the state. And some jobs.
A No-Brainer. Duh.
Shit. Sue, I can see it now. St. Albans as the Vegas of Vermont. And get some heavy duty entertainers up here too. And a Vermont RAT PACK.
Lottery machines in bars and restaurants: “Yeah, I’ll have the hot dog entree and the cheapest draft ya got. Got some gamblin’ ta do. If I win, I’ll tip ya. Maybe.”
I consider that game where you try to hoist a frog out of the stuffed animal bin with a claw hook crane as much of a losing proposition as a lottery ticket… probably in reality, the lottery scratch off ticket is a better bet…. and talk about garish! Those puppies have disco lights on them.