I must admit that I am not happy about the salary Ernie Passailaigue is receiving but I am not surprised that the Lottery Commission would pay it. I also not surprised the Gov. Beebe and House Speaker Robbie Wills are a bit late in speaking out about it. Gov Beebe and Rep Willis were the ones to appoint the members of the Lottery Commission. Let's just say that there are going to be millions of dollars floating around and some legislators and business' are going to get their cut. Passalaigue is quite sure that Arkansans are dumb hicks and expect legislators to deal with them.
"You cannot go back and talk to the average person about this because they will not understand it," Passailaigue told lawmakers. "Hopefully, they've got enough faith and trust and confidence in your abilities because you're elected and you'll come up here and listen to all of this."
Ha! Yeah, like I really trust Gov Beebe and his friends wheeling and dealing in the Capital. This is just the start of the unethical behavior coming from the Lottery Commission. These lotteries are always bedrocks of corruption. I fully expect years of scandals from the lottery. You invite the serpent into the garden, expect to get bitten.
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There were/are a lot of people (and politicians) who expected this lottery to solve all of Arkansas's financial problems. Much was made of how much money would be going to education, and of course many politicians in Little Rock looked at the possibility of expanding their power and influence over the "mad" money that would be left.
You phrased it very well, a serpent has been introduced, and we tax payers (and the educational system) will feel its sting.
Of course, many of the politicians who brought this nose of the camel under the tent, will no longer be in political office and will not feel the bite. It is us, the taxpayer that will feel the sting of this ill-planned and advised boondoggle.
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