February 3, 2013
Dear Members of the Securities and Exchange Commission:
Secret political spending is distoring our democracy to give vastly more power to corporations and the 1%.
These contributions from nationally controlled individuals and organizations can overpower the ability of local state and city candidates to respond with matching funding.
Just look at what has happened in Wisconsin and Michigan and Ohio -- where outside funding poured in to deeply influence local media and candidates. Do we want these corporate coups to take the place of true representative elections?
I ask that the SEC act immediately to issue a rule 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,
Sigrid Asmus