February 3, 2013
Dear Members of the Securities and Exchange Commission:
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.
My experience is that whenever I as an individual give to a campaign, that campaign requires that I identify myself. My individual, small contribution thus becomes disclosable to the public. My politics are revealed. How much more so then, should large, corporate contributions be disclosed.
From a business perspective, my company takes a firm neutral position. We want to do all the business we can.
On the other hand, I must say how pleased I was to see certain corporations pour millions of dollars into campaigns, and thus into our economy, and still lose. In a way, I would hate to see this revenue stream come to a complete stop. Citizen's United has opened up a whole new way to get these normally very selective and profit-minded folks to write big checks for such risky ventures as far right-wing politicians. The rest of us are increasingly organized, and the majority seems inclined to cast a secret ballot against the big money. In a way, whatever you do, so far this looks like a win-win for little, organized guys and gals who vote.
Thank you for considering my comment.
Sincerely,
TIMOTHY TREWYN