November 6, 2013
SEC Comment file 4-637
Dear Comment file 4-637,
I am deeply concerned about the influence of corporate money on our electoral process.
In particular, I am appalled that, because of the Supreme Court's ruling in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, publicly traded corporations can spend investor's money on political activity in secret.
I am writing to urge the Securities and Exchange Commission 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.
I have the impression that a considerable amount of shareholder dollars may be spent on ridiculous things like swaying Congress to filibuster and shutdown government, not support more environmentally sustainable alternative energy development, not support healthcare for all, not support education, and so on...even when the shareholders may not want to be budgeting in this manner. This is criminal, but apparently the criminals write the so called "rules" now to their benefit as we see in various ALEC or TPP driven schemes.
Thank you for considering my comment.
Sincerely,
Sabrina Hardenbergh