April 28, 2012
Dear members of the Securities and Exchange Commission:
It seems inevitable that the elections of 2012 will be an election year that will be remembered in history as the year we auctioned off those running for office to the highest bidder. I am writing to urge the SEC to issue a rule requiring publicly traded corporations to publicly disclose all their political spending.
Although it is hard to see how any one action can solve the problem created by the Citizens United decision, we need to start somewhere. In my view an SEC disclosure rule could be an effective starting point so that both a corporation's shareholders and the public are fully informed as to how much the corporation spends on politics AND which candidates are being promoted or attacked. Disclosures posted promptly on the SEC's web site would be helpful to the flesh and blood, living and breathing, individual voters of this country.
Thank you for considering my comment.
Sincerely,
Caroline Ellis