November 27, 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.
I want to point out that in any election, the candidate who has more money wins 93% of the time. This clearly suggests that money donated from 'interest groups' has greater influence on public officials than does support of constituents and representative policy making. I am only 25, so I do not know when this phenomenon began, or when the American people truly lost its Democracy. Nonetheless, it's a shocking present with a dismal future.
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,
Michael Merolla