Is private lottery a good play?

Re “Gov. may gamble on privatized lottery,” May 10

It seems that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has become a fiscal “girly man.” Rather than doing the heavy lifting needed to eliminate the budget deficit by negotiating some combination of spending decreases and tax increases, he proposes the shortsighted, easy fix of privatizing the lottery. Private companies undoubtedly could do a better job of running the lottery than the state. Why not hire them to do so under an arrangement that would allow the state to receive a portion of the incremental profits the private companies generate while retaining ownership of the lottery?

GERRY SWIDER

Sherman Oaks

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There was a time when organized crime ran the “numbers game” in the inner city, exploiting the desperation of the poor. Then, in 1984, through the initiative process, the state established the lottery with the promise of funding for education. Now Schwarzenegger wants to sell the state lottery to the highest bidder for some quick and easy cash. He decries that “California has one of the lowest-performing lotteries in the country,” as if that were a bad thing. Could it simply be that Californians are demonstrating more self-restraint than people in other states? Will they still be able to do so against a heavily marketed private enterprise?

STEVE MILLS

Glendale