There are two big political issues facing the North Carolina state legislature this year. The first is whether or not to raise the per-pack tax on cigarettes--a tax that stand today at 5 cents. Most folks agree that the tax ought to be higher, but who knows if there will be any increase. There's only one state with a lower tax--Kentucky--but then, this is still traditionally a Big Tobacco state. I don't smoke, and I don't care. The notion that increasing the tax will cut down on smoking is probably true, but I simply can't work up the excitement about this issue.

The other big issue is the state lottery. As in, we don't have one. Yet. The House passed a lottery bill last week, but that bill won't become law as written (among other things, it prohibits almost all forms of advertising for the lottery). We'll have to see what the Senate decides and how the bills might be reconciled.

Hard-core conservatives, some Christian churches and many progressive liberals oppose the lottery. If you look at the house vote, almost all of the democrats in my corner of the state (which is by far the most liberal) voted against the bill. The conservative and Christian arguments against the lottery are simple: Gambling is immoral. The progressive argument is that the lottery is a regressive tax and that the state ought to fund education programs (where lottery money is slated to go) with actual, and not expected, money.

I agree that the lottery is regressive, and I agree that the legislature ought to simply find the cash for the education. I don't think gambling is illegal, but gambling doesn't really interest me much. I don't mind the occasional poker night, but I'm not bringing more than $10 to the table. I suppose I'm philosophically opposed to the lottery, but like the cigarette tax, I just cannot find the fire to get excited.

I first noticed a state lottery in a big way when I moved to Florida. There were drawings on Wednesdays and Saturdays, and the minimum pot was $7 million. If no one won five or six drawings in a row, the pot generally hit triple digits. That's when I would make my paltry $1 play. Same numbers every time. A couple of times, I scored four numbers and got a couple of bucks back. If the pot got to $200 million (which happened once in a two and a half years, if I recall correctly), I put down $2--my lucky numbers and a random pick. In the course of my 30-month sojourn in St. Pete, I probably lost a total of five or six bucks on the Florida lottery.

I understand that some people like lotteries more than me. Some folks spend $10 or even $100 a week on the lottery. Those people lose a lot of money. There's a reason why some folks call the lottery "the stupid tax." Barbara still ridicules my "big pot only" plays. "What, seven million isn't good enough for you?" she asks. Well, no. Like everyone else, there is a point where my greed overwhelms my intelligence. That point is a possible $100 million (or about $24 million after taxes, if taken as a lump sum). I'm willing to be stupid when $100 million is on the line.

The three states that surround North Carolina (Virginia, Tennessee and South Carolina) all have lotteries. This is considered the economic argument for instituting state gaming. I guess it makes sense to steal from your own people rather than let them be duped by some other state, but I just can't get behind this argument.

In fact, I just don't care, period. I think the arguments are occasionally interesting even if the political posturing is pretty damned reprehensible. But if the legislature sets up a special election to decide the issue (a "solution" that has been bandied about for years), I'd stay home--the first election I'd have missed since moving here. I don't have an opinion, and I don't think a lottery is important enough to warrant a special election, much less the breathless coverage whipped up by a surprisingly hysterical media. Sure, we're never had a lottery down here, but then, N.C. wineries weren't allowed to ship wines to other states until two years ago. Change is part of the natural order.

Whatever. The only thing I can say for sure is that if we get a lottery, I'll plunk down my buck when the jackpot hits $100 mil. Like anyone else, my loyalty can be bought--even if the check will never arrive.

Jon Worley's lucky numbers are 4, 5, 7, 19, 29, 33 and 34.