Feb 4, 2012
Securities and Exchange Commission
Dear Commission,
Right now, Super PACs don't have to disclose their unlimited corporate donations. That means they can keep the public in the dark about who's funding the attack ads that bombard their TV screens daily.
That's why I'm joining with the 14 United States senators who formally asked you to use your regulatory authority to require that corporations disclose their spending in elections.
SEC: Exercise your regulatory authority to require public disclosure of corporate political contributions.
It is a travesty that secret Super PACs that are capable of spending hundreds of thousands, even millions of dollars to pay for TV, radio, print, internet and other media are allowed to monopolize and drown out political speech that should be an open playing field for all political candidates, not just the richest and/or most corrupt contenders.
Why is it that broadcasters in TV and other media are allowed to control the content of and access to our political contests via the prohibitively expensive and corrupting cost of coverage?
Why shouldn't there be a model for public access that by passes expensive private stations by charging private broadcasters and other profit making media a fee for using coverage obtained on public TV, public radio, public internet venues and other public media?
American voters have a right to be informed and to access information that is not corrupted by private interests profit-making schemes carried out without any disclosures about who they are or who they represent.
Sincerely,
Mary Fifield