February 1, 2013
Dear Members of the Securities and Exchange Commission:
It's long past time to end secret political spending by corporations. I believe that all funding donors should be named, including corporate donors and all of their subsidiaries. This past year's campaigns made it very clear that there are many groups who have no ethical challenge with regards to lies, distortions or misrepresentations of facts, but that most of them are not willing to name themselves as the voice behind the 'expression of free speech'. If the right is there to say it, than the obligation should also be clear to acknowledge the statement.
So I strongly support the SEC issuing a rule in the near future that would require publicly traded corporations to publicly disclose all their spending on political activities.
Both shareholders and the public deserve to know how much a given corporation spends on politics (directly and through intermediaries), and which candidates are being promoted or attacked.
Thank you for considering my comment.
Sincerely,
Jean Wright