Rep. Dan Boren has announced he is taking on campaign finance reform.
A NewsOK.com story reports Boren wants the U.S. Constitution amended to prohibit individuals from donating to federal campaigns unless:
• For a U.S. Senate candidate, they live in the same state. • For a U.S. House candidate, they live in the same congressional district.
Boren said the proposal “would begin the process of re-establishing the importance of local influence in our elections.”
“It applies to all donations. PACs could give, but their money could only come from constituents, so it could only be a local PAC made up of people who can vote for you,” Boren said.
But there’s something Boren forgot to mention. Some of the top contributors to his 2010 campaign are not in his congressional district. Most aren’t even in Oklahoma.
The top contributor to Boren’s campaign, Nix, Patterson & Roach, is a Texas based law firm that is currently representing Compsource Oklahoma in a lawsuit against Bank of New York Mellon, N.A.
Many other top contributors are similarly absent from Boren’s congressional district. A few examples:
Williams Companies – Washington DC
American Crystal Sugar – locations in North Dakota and Minnesota
American Optometric Assn – offices in Missouri and Virginia
Associated Builders & Contractors – chapter in Oklahoma, but not in Boren’s district
Blue Dog PAC – Virginia
Home Depot (their PAC made the donation) – Washington DC
Honeywell International – New Jersey
Koch Industries – Kansas
National Beer Wholesalers Assn – Virginia
National Fedn of Independent Business – office in Oklahoma, but not in Boren’s district
National Rural Electric Coop Assn – Virginia
Publix Super Markets – Florida
Raytheon Co – Massachusetts
There’s a similar problem with Boren’s individual contributors. According to the Center for Responsive Politics website, seven of the top ten zip codes for individual donations to Boren’s campaign were not in his district.
Maplight.org has some eye opening numbers on Boren’s 2005-2007 campaigns:
Dan Boren is a classic example of a politician who wants people to listen to what he says, but not watch what he does.
He has just over a million dollars in his warchest and no debts. Wonder what he will do with that?
Bobbie McAuliffe
Poteau