February 1, 2013
Dear Members of the Securities and Exchange Commission:
I still find it unbelievable that the US Supreme Court ruled in favor of the misnamed Citizens United group vs. FEC. I would support a system of publically funded election campaigns where each candidate recieved the same amount, with state races recieving more funds than local and national races receiving more funds than state.
As that is not a currently available option, I strongly support the SEC issuing a rule in the near future that would require publicly traded corporations to publicly disclose all their spending on political activities.
The current laws allow corpoorations to unduly influence national politics. Shareholders and the public deserve to know how much a given corporation spends on politics (directly and through intermediaries), and which candidates AND FAIR ELECTION LAWS are being promoted or attacked. From the activites of recent years, where a similarly misnamed group registered in one state (I seem to recall it was Colorado) to fight campaign limits passed by the citizens of another state (I seem to recall it was Montana); it is obvious that corporations wish to unduly influence election results.
Your ruling is the only current opportunity for the voice of common sense to influence campaign finanace. Thanks for your consideration.
Sincerely,
Deanna Pihl