April 25, 2013
As we have seen in all U.S. elections since Citizens United v Federal Election Commission, (especially the 2012 Presidential election) the amount of money in undisclosed donations is not only obscene, it is obliterating any semblance of democracy in electing representatives to our government. THIS MUST STOP!
Our Congress for the most part is already operating at the behest of corporation lobbyists, rather than representing the wishes of the majority of Americans (i.e. recent defeated legislation to curtail gun violence). How can anything be accomplished for the good of the country when special interests can buy the legislators, unduly influence legislation and buy elections? If this isn't stopped soon, we will no longer be a democracy. We will go down in history just as Rome did, though from different causes.
Therefore, 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 – and to do so this year. It is a scandal that money from publicly traded corporations – which belongs to investors – can be secretly spent to distort our democracy.
The Supreme Court’s ruling in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission created the loophole that enables this secret spending, but the SEC has the authority to close it.
All of us -- shareholders and the public -- must be fully informed as to how much corporations spend on politics and which candidates are being promoted or attacked. Disclosures should be posted promptly on the SEC’s web site.
I therefore URGE you to make this ruling, no matter how much pressure is put on you by the corporations and their lobbyists that hide behind the Citizens United loophole to accomplish their selfish, short-sighted goals. Their actions do not support a healthy democracy and are NOT good for this country.
Thank you for considering my comment.
Louise Morris
Nashville, TN