March 28, 2014
SEC
I am deeply concerned about the influence of corporate money on our electoral process.
***Corporations must not be allowed to leverage their special legal privileges and powers into the political forum. Corporations are special legal fictions, chartered for specific purposes and with specific powers that no flesh and blood human enjoys. SEC must act immediately to prevent a flood of corporate money, acquired through means completely unrelated to any political motivation on the part of any "donors", i.e. the shareholders and customers, from drowning our public discourse.
The specific commercial and contractual relationships for which corporations are established with special powers should are inherently abused when the same corporations repurpose themselves, and their funds thus acquired, to political ends. Allowing publicly traded corporations that have none of the social, physical, psychological, or other limitations of actual human beings to exercise political influence in the human realm is a fundamental confusion of categories that SEC must correct in its role as overseer of corporations. Please pass a robust rule on political spending disclosure, now and prevent the massive commercial powers of for-profit corporations from being leveraged into political powers beyond the reach of any citizen.***
In particular, I am appalled that, because of the Supreme Court's ruling in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, publicly traded corporations can spend investors' money in secret.
I am writing to urge the Securities and Exchange Commission 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.
Sincerely,
Jim Steitz