Powerball Winner In Puerto Rico A Lottery First, Some Americans Are Outraged
When a Powerball winner for Puerto Rico was announced, there was some surprise among some Americans, since many are not aware the Powerball lottery system extends to the U.S. commonwealth. This surprise has turned to outrage, with some even denouncing the Powerball winner in Puerto Rico, even though the person has yet to come forward.
In a related report by the Inquisitr, several winning PA lottery tickets worth tens of thousands are about to expire with no lottery winner coming forward. Overall, there will be three Powerball winners this time around, who will split the $564 million jackpot.
The Powerball winners in North Carolina and Texas do not have anyone upset; it’s only the only place that has some people on social media fuming.
@filoquecorta It’s completely outrageous someone from Puerto Rico won the powerball, thought this was America!
— The Cutting Edge (@filoquecorta) February 12, 2015
Those who disagree with this notion have already started to fight back. The phrase “powerball puerto rico speak english” has even become popular on Twitter.
For all the ignorance I have seen towards #puertorico and the #powerball. YES we speak English probably better than those who are upset. — Emily Lebron (@vimarie313) February 12, 2015
The bright side of #Powerball winning ticket in #PuertoRico, a free lesson of geography, history and politics for many Americans
— Osman Perez Mendez (@Osman_PM) February 12, 2015
Residents of Puerto Rico are born as U.S. citizens and pay federal taxes, including Social Security, payroll, import/export taxes, and Medicare. Puerto Ricans have long argued over whether or not they should become the next U.S. state, but would be required to pay federal personal income tax if that day ever comes.
What is new is that the Powerball lottery system has only been operating in Puerto Rico for a relatively short amount of time.
“We are beyond thrilled with the news that we already have a multimillion-dollar winner just four months after Puerto Rico began selling Powerball tickets,” said Antonio Perez Lopez, assistant secretary of the Puerto Rico Lottery, according to the Associated Press.
According to the North American Association of State and Provincial Lotteries, last year Americans spent a total of $70.15 billion on lottery tickets. According to Fox 13, this is more money than all other types of entertainment, including sports, books, video games, movies, and music, which all combined amount to $62.7 billion. To put all these numbers into perspective, you’re still more likely to be crushed by an asteroid or suffer a shark attack rather than become a Powerball winner.
The recent Powerball jackpot is the third largest in Powerball history, and the fifth largest in U.S. lottery history. The Powerball winner in Puerto Rico will be able to choose between a lump-sum payment of $101.6 million or 30 payments over 29 years.
