February 2, 2013
Dear Members of the Securities and Exchange Commission:
Which scares us more? Foreign governments using shell corporations to steal U.S. elections, or large businesses who will use their money to ensure the majority (who don't share their perspective) have to live with their candidates hand selected to favor their business.
Either way, Citizens United is a ridiculous decision which the majority of U.S. voters believe is hogwash designed to make large entities larger while squashing the small business and minority positions.
It never was supposed to be a goverment of the businesses for the businesses, it was of the PEOPLE for the PEOPLE.
Money isn't speech and businesses are not people. A kindergarten student can tell you this. That a few fat guys in dresses tell us that it is shouldn't be taken seriously, and it should make us question the validity of opinion of those holding our highest positions.
It's long past time to end secret political spending by corporations.
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,
Jeffrey Trott