WASHINGTON INSIGHT

HOLY TORPEDO: Sen. David L. Boren (D-Okla.), ordinarily a key ally of President Clinton, is, at the moment, one fascinating torpedo aimed straight at the heart of Clinton’s economic program. While he furiously plots with Republicans and other oil-state Democrats to kill Clinton’s energy tax, he also is crusading to ban money-giving political action committees (PACs). And that link bears examining. . . . Boren makes a big show of not taking PAC money for his campaigns, but he still gets plenty of special-interest dough in a different form: individual contributions. Big barrels full pour in from oil and gas executives vitally interested in--guess what?--killing the proposed energy tax, which they fear would sink the oil patch economy. When Boren last ran for reelection in 1990, he raised more than $177,000 from the people of Amoco, Mobil and such. And so, ironically, the leader of campaign-finance reform apparently has at least one reason--oil money--to fight the energy tax.