This is Alabama. We can't have nice things.

We add to the price we pay at the pump because we can't afford to pave our roads without a gas tax. We limit the opportunities of every child that isn't born into wealth or privilege because we can't create scholarships to finance their futures.

We keep shooting ourselves in the collective foot and then complaining that we can't walk when we're injured.

It's been YEARS and we still refuse to have a statewide lottery.

WHY? Can someone explain this to me?

I was cautiously optimistic that we would soon have the opportunity to vote on the lottery issue, but once again our elected officials have let us down. The Alabama Senate rejected the latest proposal to create a statewide lottery yesterday, and the proposal fell by just two votes--with Tuscaloosa's own Gerald Allen voting against the bill.

Again--I fail to see the logic here. A statewide merit scholarship program could have received HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS in dollars in funding every year from a lottery. Do you know how many lives that could change? How many kids could have a chance to attend college?

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There are lotteries literally all around us--Tennessee, Mississippi, Florida, Georgia. I'm certain you can think of several friends or family members who have driven across state lines to purchase a Powerball ticket. Why can't we keep their money HERE to support OUR students?

Perhaps I am biased, as the majority of my college education was paid for because Kentucky has a state lottery, but Alabama's refusal to create a state lottery is pathetic.

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