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.
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.
There is no good reason to allow corporate bureaucrats to operate secretly in conflict with the rest of us. The bureaucrats who control this spending operate solely in their personal interest, as they do when they pay themselves exorbitant salaries and bonuses. Salaries and bonuses and campaign contributions are payments to benefit individuals, not our community and state, or our corporations.
Thank you for considering my comment.
Sincerely,
John Bremer