February 1, 2013
Dear Members of the Securities and Exchange Commission:
The U.S. Supreme Court's disastrous Citizens United vs. FEC ruling has allowed corporate CEOs to flood our political system with secret corporate spending. CEOs are able to keep both the public and their own shareholders in the dark about the use of company funds for political ends. The results have proven disastrous for our democracy.
Having just learned that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)is empowered to require corporations to disclose their political spending, I am writing to speak out in favor of your issuing such a requirement.
Many companies already voluntarily disclose their political spending to investors. It's time to end secret political spending by such heavyweights as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the American Petroleum Institute and to stand up to these and other right-wing groups that are pushing for you to abandon the plan to issue a disclosure rule.
The public wants to see an end to secret political spending. I strongly support the idea of the SEC's issuing a rule that would require publicly traded corporations to publicly disclose all their spending on politics, whether directly or through intermediaries. That would help the public know which candidates are being promoted or attacked and by whom.
Thank you for taking this action.
Sincerely,
Theodore Cochrane