Aren’t lotteries supposed to be self-funded?  That is, after a portion of the proceeds go to schools, etc., etc., isn’t the rest reserved for the prize pool?  Via Zerohedge:

Illinois Pays Lottery Winners in IOUs after $30K/Month Budget “Guru” Fails to Produce Deal

If we ever won the lottery, we would sort of prefer to take the annuity instead of the lump sum, but always thought that it would be insane to count on the solvency of the government in 20 or 30 years’ time.  This story reinforces our position.