May 1, 2012
Dear members of the Securities and Exchange Commission:
Shareholders need to know--as does the public--what political candidates and parties corporations spend money to support or attack. This should include money provided to so-called Super PACs and other so-called "independent" politically active groups. That accountability does not currently exist. Shareholders and the public need to be able to consider that information in decisions to buy and sell corporations' shares and products.
I am writing to urge the SEC 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.
Sincerely,
Paul Epstein