Contribution Limits: Too Much of a Good Thing?

Missouri is one of only four states in the nation to not have any limit on campaign contributions. The other three are Oregon, Utah, and Virginia.

The lack of contribution limits means that any one donor can donate an unlimited amount to any campaign, initiative, or PAC.

Earlier this year, Senator Chuck Purgason, R-Caulfield, testified before the Senate Rules, Joint Rules, Resolutions and Ethics Committee in favor of contribution limits. He believes that unlimited donations have allowed special interests to control politics in Missouri. While others share Purgason's sentiments, it is unlikely a policy change will be made any time soon.

So what does this mean for Missourians?

I'm not a sports person, but the best way I can think of to explain this situation is with a baseball/football metaphor.

In football, teams have hard salary caps and salary floors. (Or at least that's what the Wikipedia tells me...). This means that even the most well-payed players aren't making a substantially larger salary than other players.

Baseball teams don't have a salary cap, and the MLB instead just charges teams a "luxury tax" for going over a certain salary level. Over the last decade, teams with the highest salaries consistently make the playoffs more often than teams with lower salaries.

If you want to learn more about this, check out the video below.

Let's compare this to Missouri politics.

The majority of the nation is operating under the NFL model where some candidates get more money from individual donors than others. Missouri is using the MLB model where some candidates get substantially more funding that their opponents.

In politics, campaign contributions are everything. So when one candidate gets hundreds of thousands of dollars from one of their "friends," their opponent can't even begin to compete.

It also means that a select few people in Missouri basically get to make election decisions just by placing a huge chunk of money in one place.

The St. Louis Beacon rounded up a list of the biggest donors from 2008 to 2010 in Missouri.

1. Rex Sinquefield, retired financier, $14,776,992
2. David Humphreys, president and CEO of TAMKO Building Products, Inc, $2,396,325
3. William Danforth, chancellor emeritus, Washington University, $1,084,483
4. James & Virginia Stowers, founder of American Century Investments, $1,041,623
5. John McDonnell, former chairman and CEO of McDonnell Douglas, $662,433
6. Ethelmae Humphreys, TAMKO's chairman of the board, $659,725
7. Jerry Hall, executive vice president of Jack Henry and Associates, $558,650
8. Sam Fox, founder of the Harbour Group, $554,687
9. James McDonnell III, retired, $483,250
10. Stanley Herzog, Herzog Cos. Inc., $453,775

Because these ten people have such an impact on Missouri elections, there are some concerns about the state's corruption risks, presented by the State Integrity Investigation.

Below is Missouri's report card. As you can see, political financing received an "F" due to the lack of contribution limits.

Do you think Missouri should have contribution limits? Let us know in the comments section below.