March 21, 2012
I am deeply concerned about the influence of corporate money on our electoral process.
In particular, I am appalled that, because of the Supreme Court’s ruling in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, publicly traded corporations can spend investor’s money on political activity in secret.
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.
Democratic process in the United States is at stake here! We must have an informed, educated electorate in order to maintain representative government. Failure of the SEC to release information on political allocations by public licensed corporations can only support government by the wealthy & corporations they own, which promotes fascism; remember that World War Two was fought to reject that very premise. The newly coined term "Corporatocracy" indicates how far unregulated monied organizations, such as banks and brokerage firms and real estate concerns, have proceeded in undermining the rights of the common citizen in this country. In time the court decision granting "corporations are people" and "money is speech" will be corrected in the overturn of the "Citizens United" ruling.
Thank you for considering my comment.
Hollis Higgins
Spokane, WA