November 6, 2013
SEC Comment file 4-637
Dear Comment file 4-637,
I am deeply concerned about the influence of corporate money on our electoral process.
As an investor I especially want to know what a CEO, a temporary employee at best, is doing with my money and doing so with my authority. Just because someone owns or has garnered in some way a majority of stock in a company does not give them to take money and spend it any way they like without oversight of the stockholders.
Embezzlement is still just that, stealing from other people.
Now if they want to spend their and only their income from dividends that is fine. Other than that they are stealing from the company. The money could go to marketing, investing, product development, research, wages for workers and benefits for all. These are just a few of the things that would benefit from the massive amounts of money that has been spent on one persons political point of view without oversight or authority from stock holders.
In particular, I am appalled that, because of the Supreme Court's ruling in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, publicly traded corporations can spend investor's money on political activity in secret.
I am writing to urge the Securities and Exchange Commission 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.
Thank you for considering my comment.
Sincerely,
Gregory Wayland