Not since Leona Helmsley uttered those infamous words, "We don't pay taxes, only the little people pay taxes." has anyone been so completely unlikable. Until today. May I introduce you to Paul Horner. Until he won one third of Maryland's Mega Millions Jackpot, he was the second wealthiest man in Maryland. Now, however, that has changed and it looks like he's inched his way up to the top wealth spot in the state.
So what him so unlikable? Here's how he responded to questions about his new mega million good fortune.
"This will help me fix up one of my estates in the Cayman Islands that I've kind of let go in recent years. I've also been thinking about buying a couple more Gulfstream G550 jets, so I think I'll go ahead and do that now." Paul goes on to say, "I'm actually kind of bummed about winning because I know there is really no way around paying the full amount of taxes that I'll owe on this. I guess for a moment or so I'll have to join the 'regulars' and pay my fair share. Maybe when I'm done paying all those taxes I'll go down to a local bar and have a domestic beer with the common folk there, just to get a quick taste of what that's like," Horner laughs. "To be honest, most of this money will probably end up going to campaign contributions for Rick Santorum."
Apparently, not concerned with winning over the "regulars", he further went on to detail how he chose his winning numbers.
"When I played before I let the riffraff behind the counter pick the numbers for me, but this time I went with numbers that have a special place close to my heart. I currently own two Bugatti's. I have four mansions. I own twenty-three different multinational corporations. I spent thirty-eight million dollars on my last yacht. I own real estate in forty-six different countries and my girlfriend is twenty-three."
Real nice guy, eh? But what's even more interesting is what lottery official, Tim Perkins, said concerning Horner's win....
"I'm kind of sad that this thing is finally over. That money was growing into something really amazing. With all of that money you could feed most of the world's starving children, or provide clean drinking water in a third world country. I'm pretty sure there is no god when a guy like Paul Horner becomes the winner of something this special."
To be honest, this statement hurts my heart more than Horner's inflated ego, diarrhea of the mouth meandering. I'm certainly not faulting Mr. Perkins for feelings. I mean, it does seem a bit cosmically out of whack, for a multimillionaire to win the lottery (now, WHY was he even playing?). But the lottery, nor any sum of money, really isn't something "special". It doesn't even come close to merit that term. At the end of the day, it's just money. Contrary to what we sometimes are tempted to believe, money is not the cure for the earth's ills. I would imagine that none of the lottery winners were planning to provide clean drinking water to other countries or feed starving children. I WISH that were the case, but the sad reality is that it probably isn't.
Money is the LEAST of the blessings God gives us. I have no clue why Paul Horner won the lottery. But in doing so, all he won was cash. That's it. Money's not love. Money's not happiness. Money's not joy. Money doesn't buy immortality. And most of all, money's NOT eternal. In fact, it's fleeting. And even if Mr. Horner dies a very wealthy man, if he's never experienced God's love, he hasn't even TOUCHED on an abundant life.
God IS real. He is loving. And He DOES care for us more deeply and more completely than we can possibly imagine. He even loves, cares for, and died for Paul Horner. It's a fortunate lot we all are that God's love isn't a personality contest! Now THAT'S "special"!
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