May 1, 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.
If I make a contribution to a political party or candidate, there is a series of questions that I must answer prior to my donation being accepted. One of those questions asks if I'm using my own PERSONAL money or if it's coming from a company/corporation fund.
It seems very odd that I have to declare where my donation money has come from, yet a corporation -- which undoubtedly contributes many times over what I can afford, doesn't have to tell anyone who they contribute to or how much they've given.
It's old news that corporate personhood is wrong and highly detrimental to our political process. The reasons for that are myriad and the results deeply disturbing. Requiring all corporations to disclose the amounts and destinations of their contributions is a small but desperately needed step if we, the people, are ever to regain our place in the political process.
Politics has grown ever more embracing of the adage "he who has the most toys [money] wins", and so much less a government 'by the people, of the people and for the people'.
Now more than ever, we are relying on you to take the first steps to return our elective process to us and to require all company/corporate political contributions to be public domain. If they are so concerned about what acknowledgement may/will do to their reputations, their 'bottom line', maybe they need to consider more carefully to whom they are contributing -- and allow the American people the option of changing the ways we do business with such companies.
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,
Michelle Anson