May 25, 2012
I fear that unlimited corporate spending to influence elections will undermine our democracy.
The Supreme Court's ruling in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission allows publicly traded corporations can spend investor's money on political activity in secret. Putting to one side the legal fictions required to reach this unprecedented decision (an alchemy by which corporations are equated with living human beings and money is equated with individual speech), allowing huge, undisclosed sums of money to influence politics threatens to overwhelm the public with false and unaccountable information ahead of elections.
I am writing to urge the Securities and Exchange Commission to issue a rule requiring publicly traded corporations to publicly disclose all their political spending.
Both shareholders and the public must be fully informed as to how much the corporation spends on politics and which candidates are being promoted or attacked. Disclosures should be posted promptly on the SEC's web site.
Thank you for considering my comment.
David Neal
Hillsborough, NC