February 2, 2013
Dear Members of the Securities and Exchange Commission:
IF corps deserve free speech like I've a right to, then they should be treated like I am: I have to have my political contributions recorded, limited, and my support for candidates and policies disclosed. SO SHOULD THEY IF WE ARE TO PRESERVE THE DEMOCRACY. Secrecy engenders fraud and manipulation; always has; this is no different.
So 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.
Both shareholders and the public deserve to know how much a given corporation spends on politics (directly and through intermediaries), and which candidates are being promoted or attacked.
Thank you for considering my comment.
Sincerely,
G Gerst