May 9, 2013
Dear members of the Securities and Exchange Commission:
I am a retired naval intelligence officer and served for close to 25 years in the U.S. Navy. During my time in service, and especially due to my career as an intelligence officer, I witnessed numerous instances of foreign nations and their corrupt political process, brought about principally by massive campaign funding from "secret" sources. We're quickly headed down that path in America, unless something is done to stop such secret political funding from occurring. If corporations wish to fund a candidate, they are free to do so, but ALL political contributions should be openly accounted for on a public register, and this does not, in any way, limit freedom of speech. The political process if an open, transparent process, or is supposed to be anyway. How one votes is one thing, but who one gives money to for campaign funding is entirely different.
I am writing to urge the SEC to issue a rule requiring publicly traded corporations to publicly disclose all their political spending.
Both shareholders and the public must be fully informed as to how much the corporation spends on politics and which candidates are being promoted or attacked. Disclosures should be posted promptly on the SEC's web site.
Thank you for considering my comment. Please do not let America descend into the same political hole so many other nations have fallen into due to "secret" campaign funding practices.
Jon Olson