February 2, 2013
Dear Members of the Securities and Exchange Commission:
It's long past time to end secret political spending by corporations.
Democracy does not work in the dark: without knowing how and by whom our political system is co-opted, we cannot hope to regain our democracy.
But with your help, your rules requiring corporations to disclose their political spending, we have more chance of identifying how our politicians are influenced and re-instituting our right to elect representatives who have integrity and intend to serve their constituents instead of serving their war chest contributors.
So I strongly support the SEC issuing a rule in the near future that would require publicly traded corporations to publicly disclose all their spending on political activities.
Both shareholders and the public deserve to know how much a given corporation spends on politics (directly and through intermediaries), and which candidates are being promoted or attacked.
Without transparency in influence, we cannot hope to have democracy.
Also without public input about policies, practices, and subterfuges of corporations, our biosphere is in danger of continuing to be plundered for profit--the biosphere being the air, water, soil and life on the planet that keeps us (and possible future generations) alive.
Thank you for considering my comment.
Sincerely,
Sidney Greene