Apply special interest refunds to reduce debt

Editor,

According to the local and national news over the recent past we find our elected and appointed officials giving back their ill-begotten dollars to the Tribes.

There is much more to consider than the influence and favors those dollars were intended to buy.

The question of just how much damage has already been caused over the past several years to the general public and the trust the voters had placed in those elected officials. As a lifelong rancher, whenever I spent dollars for any reason that I thought might result in a capital gain, I did so knowing there was a risk that it might not pay off.

It is only reasonable to assume the large special interest groups, whoever they might be, have gained in the past from their invested influence-buying dollars.

If those we elected from both sides want to return shady dollars to save their political skin, they should apply those dollars to reduce the national debt. At best this should serve notice to the elected and the appointed that accepting influence dollars from large special interests is wrong and should be outlawed. This could help clean up the mess.

Del Palmer

Charlo