So the state of California is going broke and, naturally, we are spending extra money to have a special election on May 19th. At which election a handful of voters will go out and approve or disapprove various constitutional amendments that are virtually incomprehensible to anyone but lawyers.

These amendments are designed to free us forever from the fiscal problems that have plagued the state for the past twenty or so years. Or something.

One of the amendments, Proposition 1C, proposes to "modernize" the California lottery and, at the same time, borrow $5 billion against the future wealth that the modernized lottery will bring.

Talk about counting your suckers before they are hatched.

So far the one proposition that has been publicized heavily, glossy mailers and no doubt TV adds, is proposition 1C. The committee that is sending the mailers, Californians for Modernization, is supported by "educators, parents, labor, business, law enforcement and fire fighters". Because no organization names are mentioned in the ads, Wonks Anonymous presumes that these fine people support the group in their capacity as private citizens.

Californians for Modernization also has major funding from GTech.

What does GTech do? No cheating now. Guess before you click the link.

That's right. They make lottery systems.

Now we could probably get more revenue from vice if we legalized casino gambling in San Francisco and Los Angeles. We might do even better if we legalized and taxed pot or just raised the tax on alcohol and tobacco. And, of course, the idea of adding to the state debt based on the anticipated revenues of lottery modernization is just plain stupid.

One good reason to vote no on May 19th.