April 29, 2012
Dear members of the Securities and Exchange Commission:
I am writing to urge the SEC to issue a rule requiring publicly traded corporations to publicly disclose all their political spending. This is only logical and fair. It also helps fight corruption.
As a shareholder, I want to know where the company I am a partial owner of is spending its money. That seems to me like it should be a basic disclosure to owners. This information is not a trade secret, not copyrighted, not a "secret formula" nor proprietary. That is why some corporations already do it voluntarily.
In addition to shareholders, the public has aright to full disclosure as to how much any corporation spends on politics, including which candidates are being promoted or attacked. This information might be embarrassing to those who which to engage in questionable leveraging, but is necessary to help keep corruption at bay.
Full disclosure of political spending should be posted promptly on the SEC's web site.
Thank you for considering my comment.
Sincerely,
frances hinckley