April 30, 2012
Dear members of the Securities and Exchange Commission:
I am writing to urge the SEC to issue a rule requiring publicly traded corporations to publicly disclose all their political spending.
It is indefensible for corporations to conceal from stockholders, their owners, the uses to which corporate money is being put. This is especially true of lobbying and other attempts to influence the body politic. That would include spending on issues ads and spending to promote or fight any candidate for public office.
Since corporations are creatures of the law, allowed to exist for the greater public interest, the general public should also be also be privy to that information. This is above and beyond the need of the public to have this information to prudently judge whether or not to invest in, or purchase from, such a corporation.
And in this electronic age, both expedience and cost call for such information to be posted in a central location, such as the website of the SEC.
Sincerely,
David Garland