January 13, 2013
Securities and Exchange Comm.
Dear Securities and Exchange Comm.,
The SEC should mandate, and promptly, the public disclosure of political spending by publicly-traded companies. Quite apart from the important implications for our democracy of secret funding of elections, it is the SEC's responsibility to ensure that this information is available to investors so that they can make sound investment decisions.
Companies may try to justify this type of expenditure as "routine business promotion" (maybe even tax-deductibel!) but that is a specious claim where the broader philosophical and political implications have never been presented to shareholders, let along approved by them.
Thank you for considering my comment.
Sincerely,
Katherine Campbell