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Some facts about lotto in the USA:

The taxation difference between a lump sum and annuity lottery payout primarily lies in the timing and amount of taxes paid. A lump sum payout is taxed immediately on the entire amount, often pushing the winner into the highest federal tax bracket of 37%. This results in a significant portion of the winnings being taxed upfront. In contrast, annuity payments are taxed annually as they are received, potentially at lower rates if future tax brackets are reduced or if the annual payout doesn't push the winner into the highest bracket.

Estimates suggest around 30% of lottery winners face bankruptcy within three to five years.

Lottery players in America tend to come from specific demographic groups:

Socioeconomic Status:
People in lower-income brackets spend a larger portion of their income on lottery tickets. The poorest households spend nearly 5% of their income on lotteries, while wealthier households spend much less.

Race and Ethnicity:
Blacks and Native Americans have higher average days of lottery play compared to other groups.

Gender:
Males play the lottery more frequently than females.

Age:
Lottery play peaks in the twenties and thirties, then declines with age.

The odds: gambling is often referred to as "a tax for people that are bad at math". Here's your proof:

Here are some events more likely than winning the lottery:

Struck by Lightning: 1 in 186,978 chance annually.

Attacked by a Shark: 1 in 11.5 million.

Dying in a Car Accident: 1 in 67,003.

Winning an Olympic Gold Medal: 1 in 662,0005.

The odds of winning the Powerball jackpot are about 1 in 292.2 million.

Approximately 1% to 2.6% of the U. S. population has a gambling addiction, which translates to about 2 to 10 million people.

Bet with your head, not over it!

In the midst of the weird political coverage, a key story has been largely overlooked. Not only does the stock market continue to set record highs, but also, as Jim Tankersley of the New York Times reported, the so-called left-behind counties, distressed after the collapse of manufacturing in them, have “added jobs and new businesses at their fastest pace since Bill Clinton was president.” “That turnaround,” he notes, “has shocked experts.” More than 1,000 counties, mostly in the Southeast and Midwest, that grew at less than half the national rate in terms of both people and income from 2000 to 2016, have surged. From 2016 to 2019—mostly during Trump’s administration—those rural left-behind counties, which make up about 18% of the U. S. population, added 10,000 jobs. In 2023 alone, they added 104,000.

Tankersley notes that Trump overwhelmingly won the support of voters in these counties, but their circumstances did not improve during his administration. Under Biden, they added jobs five times faster than they did under Trump. Still, voters there appear to continue to back Trump.

Are they backing Trump because they care more about culture wars than their economic security? Or are they ill informed?

(Yes, I am @normalice posting anonymously because I want to give the right wing snowflakes who blocked me the opportunity to see key information they have created a bubble to avoid).