In referring to tax revenues in Georgia Prof. Dumas did not say
which of the two methods used there but not employed currently in
Tennessee he is supporting.  Since he described it as popular, I
assume he meant the lottery rather than their income tax.

   His failure to mention it by name is characteristic of the lottery for
it is a stealth tax, a regressive tax on the statistically challenged that
reduces the tax burden on higher income residents smart enough not to pay.
By this reduction a lottery tends to distract us from the true cost of
government and we become inclined to watch it less closely. Therefore it
is to be rejected.

   I much prefer that government come to its citizens with both its
proposals and their cost and let me decide if they are worth paying for.
An income tax is the fairest tax and tends to make us pay attention.  I
think it is preferable.

J. Hiestand

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