January 18, 2012
I am deeply concerned about the influence of corporate money on our electoral process.
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 investor's money on political activity 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.
It's absolutely inconceivable and absurd to me that the Supreme Court could ever rule that corporations are entitled to the same rights as individuals under the First Amendment. I want our elections to be fair and to reflect the desires of the people, ordinary PEOPLE, not entities with enormous amounts of money to actually influence election results.
Thank you for considering my comment.
BRENDA SWAFFORD
SIMPSONVILLE, SC