May 1 , 2012
Dear Members, Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC):
Briefly, I am writing to urge the SEC to issue a rule requiring publicly traded corporations to disclose all their political spending publicly. Why?
Given that we now live under the inappropriate Citizens United case and decision, both shareholders and the public must be fully informed about how much a corporation spends on politics and which candidates are being promoted or attacked. Disclosures should be posted promptly on the SEC's web site, to provide the public access to these decisions when made by publicly traded corporations.
History: Granted that the Court's taking on and deciding this case (i.e., Citizens United) was inherently political, we the people still rely on institutions like the SEC to play their role in maintaining societal balance. While the Supreme Court made a disastrous mistake when it declared that corporations ARE people, the first rule of corporations is that they are NOT people -- which is the reason they are required to become incorporated as separate entities, in the state of their choice.
Thank you for thoughtfully considering my comments, including the reality of corporations as creatures of corporation law.
Sincerely,
Todd W. Areson