Oregon Attorney General John Kroger raised $1,048,841 for his 2008 election. Of that, $312,500, a little over 30 percent of his entire campaign's funding, came from SEIU. Much of that money came from what's called Citizen Action for Political Education, "a voluntary, nonprofit, unincorporated association limited to members of the Service Employees International Union Local 503, Oregon Public Employee's Union."
Kroger also received "a fat $150,000" from the Democratic Attorneys General Association, and $50,000 from the Oregon Education Association People for Improvement of Education, the state's National Education Association (teachers' union) affiliate. He also got plenty of money from lawyers.
In other words, his campaign was bankrolled by liberal special interests.
Kroger has asked the Oregon legislature to eliminate the tax exemption for certain charities that, unlike him, aren't fortunate to have a cadre of fat-cat special interest donors at their beck and call. (Or could it be he who is at the beck and call of fat-cat donors?)
Kroger's bill would, as he describes it, allow him "to disqualify charitable organizations from receiving tax-deductible contributions" for organizations that spend 70 percent or more of their funds on administrative and fundraising costs.
