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. Recently, a people's petition to label GM foods was voted on
(I522) in Washington State. Because of state law, each ad had to list the major contributors. So all who saw the ad could also see that it was paid for by Monsanto, Dow Chemicals, Bayer Agroscience, & Grocers' Manurafacturing Association. Seeing that, many more people voted for the proposal than would have if they didn't know who was sinking millions of dollars into its defeat. This is the information we need to make clear choices.
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.
Thank you for considering my comment.
Sincerely,
Marscha Irving