Back in November, ultra rich mortgage banker Kevin Stitt – a man who used his personal wealth to buy his way into the Oklahoma governor’s office in 2018 – formed a task force to “rigorously assess” the integrity of Oklahoma elections.
One item on the agenda was to “identify any campaign finance loopholes that need to be closed,” like, for example, the ability of dark money groups to accept unlimited campaign contributions from special interest groups, corporations, and rich men with dominant eyebrows, and then turn around and run ads in support of candidates they’re – wink, wink – not collaborating with.
Thanks to the Citizens United ruling, it’s an issue that the entire nation is facing. It’s also one that will likely never be solved because the people who write and enact our laws also happen to be the people who benefit the most from the crooked system.
Either way, Stitt just signed a dignity pledge, so he can obviously be trusted to provide a good, noble fix to the problem affecting our Democracy.
Let’s go to KOSU to see what solution he and his vaunted task force came up with:
Oklahoma election task force recommends fighting dark money by lifting contribution limits
A task force created by Gov. Kevin Stitt proposes eliminating the cap on how much money state politicians can accept from individual campaign donors.
Right now, a candidate on the ballot for a primary, runoff and general election can receive just shy of $10,000 from an individual.
The task force argues so-called dark money groups that raise unlimited funds can take advantage of their own set of rules to attack candidates with impunity.
Unlimited donations from individuals to candidates could level that playing field, according to the task force.
As Kevin Stitt would say – “Imagine That!”
The geniuses in Oklahoma government have determined the solution to combating dark money’s influence in elections isn’t to develop ways to stop it, but instead, roll over, play dead, and increase the amount people can give to politicians to “level the playing field.”
That makes perfect sense and is obviously a wise and astute way to improve Oklahoma's election integrity.
In other news, Ryan Walters just announced that the best way to combat cheating in Oklahoma public schools is to give all students A’s. Problem solved!
In all seriousness, how stupid does this guy think we are?
Well, considering he was elected Governor, he probably thinks we’re pretty stupid, but removing campaign donation limits will only make our election integrity worse, and lead to more candidates, politicians, and elected officials becoming even more subservient to rich people with money.
“Whatever Patrick! Politicians are too cowardly, corrupt, and complicit to address the influence of dark money, so they might as well let everyone throw their wallet weight around and try to influence and buy elections.”
That’s a fair and dumb point, but if Stitter’s task force was legit and had any credibility, the only finding would have been that Oklahoma needs to become a national leader in a movement to pass a constitutional amendment that reverses Citizens United vs FEC, and root out all the loopholes that have turned our “Democracy” into a silent auction that goes to the highest bidder.
Granted, that would take courage – something most politicians don't have – but it's the only solution to the problem. I guess the dollar signs stuck in our task force's eyes wouldn't let them see it.
Stay with The Lost Ogle. We’ll keep you advised.
