April 17, 2012
Accountability and responsibility are not words that I take lightly. I truly believe nobody is above the law -- Nobody! And when it comes to government regulators doing their job (fulfilling their "watchdog duties" for the American people), I would hope that they share those sentiments. I'd also hope they realize that the vast majority of Americans support their efforts in doing what is surely difficult and challenging work!
Having established that, I'm writing today because I'm very concerned about the flood of unaccountable influence of corporate money on our electoral process. I find it particularly disturbing that, because of the Supreme Court’s irresponsible ruling in the Citizens United case, publicly traded corporations can secretly spend investor’s money on political activity.
I would like to urge the Securities and Exchange Commission to issue a rule that requires publicly traded corporations to publicly disclose any and all political spending. As the federal agency with the job of protecting shareholders from corporate abuse, the SEC can - and rightfully should - step in to stop Corporate America from using our retirement savings and investments as secret, powerful political war chests.
Shareholders and the general public must be fully informed as to how much a corporation spends on politics, in addition to which candidates are being supported or smeared. Complete and up-to-date disclosures should be promptly posted on the SEC’s web site as well. Doing these things is a solid step in helping to restore citizen's fading trust in our political system.
Thank you for your time and consideration of my views on this very important matter.
Tracy Johnston
Uniontown, OH