January 9, 2013
Since the Supreme Court (in Citizens United v. FEC) ruled that corporations may make unlimited political donations, the situation has arisen that some corporations make contributions that may be contrary to the interests of their shareholders.
I urge the SEC to issue a rule that requires publicly traded corporations disclose their political contributions to all shareholders. The shareholders will then be in a position to determine if such contributions are in their own interest, and, if not, either dispose of the stock or bring the matter before the corporation's annual meeting.
As it is, only corporate management may know about such political expenditures. Please make a rule so that stockholders have the opportunity to be aware of the activity of the corporations they own, and can judge whether that activity is in their own interest or not.
David Garland
Minneapolis, MN