From: U.S.PIRG
March 6, 2012
The Securities and Exchange Commission
Dear Securities and Exchange Commission,
Millions of dollars are flooding the airwaves for or against candidates, and much of that money is untraceable. Right now, a corporation could be sinking MILLIONS of dollars into a political campaign; and the shareholders - the actual owners of the company - have no say whether or not their investment dollars are spent to elect candidates, who will then likely favor the big corporation over the "piddly" lives of the shareholders. This is so-o-o wrong!
The public must be fully informed as to how much a corporation spends on politics and which candidates are being promoted or attacked.
I urge the Securities and Exchange Commission to issue [at the very least] a rule requiring publicly-traded corporations to disclose all their political spending.
Additionally, there need to be new regulations affirming that shareholders must approve each and every ad a corporation wants to lend financial support to, before it may run; and forbidding corporations from attempting to otherwise buy an election, absent the near unanimous consent of their shareholders.
Sincerely,
Amy Rosier