November 26, 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.
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.
Honestly, I don't think this is something that NEEDS public comment. The fact that corporate money (especially SECRET corporate money) is a corrupting influence in politics is MORE THAN OBVIOUS. Just by virtue of the fact that the SEC is "accepting public comments" is enough to tell me that they won't be lifting a finger to mitigate the unfair influence this buys the corporations. Corporate power works in the SEC's favor (unless one is foolish enough to believe that the SEC is anything but a Republican institution). In my opinion, corporations are made up of people BUT ARE NOT PEOPLE THEMSELVES. And the Citizens United decision made the wealthiest among us more powerful and effectively silenced the 99%. But the idea that the SEC is going to want to change this is a joke in and of itself. Why would they choose to give away the power and unfair advantage that Citizens United affords them? Welcome to The Corporate States Of America: of the wealthy, by the wealthy, and FOR the wealthy!
Thank you for considering my comment.
Sincerely,
Franklin Blaeuer