It&#x27;s easy to understand why states are willing to raise a significant amount of their budget through the lottery. It&#x27;s because people -- especially Americans -- hate taxes, and many politicians come to power by promising lower taxes. But states still need money for schools and roads and all those good things that people still expect, so lottery is an easy way to raise that money. Without the lottery, states will never come close to balancing budgets unless efficient, progressive taxes are implemented. Something tells me that will be hard to do.