July 26, 2013
Corporations can now spend as much as they want on the elections that WE, THE PUBLIC, vote in. Yes, "Freedom of Cash," is the new law of the land, and Freedom of Speech is old hat. But should corporations be allowed to HIDE their moneyed "speech," either from the public, or FROM THEIR OWN SHARE-HOLDERS?? This is "democracy"????
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.
“Dark money” groups that accept contributions from corporations, but are not required to publicly identify their corporate donors, spent millions of dollars during the 2012 elections. 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.
Both 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.
Thank you for considering my comment.
Keith Allen
Cedar Grove, NC