November 6, 2013
SEC Comment file 4-637
Dear Comment file 4-637,
It is my understanding that the Supreme Court's ruling in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission allows publicly traded corporations to spend money on political activity in secret. If so, corporate money is poisoning our electoral process.
A free and open election requires free and open speech. An individual person cannot hide his or her campaign contributions or donations to lobbying groups. Corporations must be subject to the laws applied to individual citizens. If they are not, we have negated the Gettysburg Address and have a government of corporations, by corporations, and for corporations.
Please issue a rule requiring publicly traded corporations to publicly disclose all their political spending. Both shareholders and the public must be informed as to how much the corporation spends on politics and which candidates are being promoted or attacked. Disclosures should be published on the SEC's web site in a prominent fashion.
Thank you for considering my comment.
Sincerely,
del Real Pablo