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. Shareholders should know how much their company is spending, possibly for causes they don't support. The public should know if 'big business' is distorting the public discourse by throwing huge amounts of money at issues that benefit them, but not the public.
Disclosures should be posted promptly on the SEC's web site.
Thank you for considering my comment.
Sincerely,
William Solomon