April 28, 2012
Dear Members of the Securities and Exchange Commission:
The U.S. Supreme Court's disastrous Citizens United v. FEC ruling has allowed corporate CEOs to unleash a torrent of secret corporate spending into our political system. Indefensibly, CEOs are able to keep both the public and their own shareholders in the dark about the use of company funds for political ends. This gives CEOs free rein to make political expenditures that they would never be able to justify publicly -- including campaigns so toxic they would inevitably tarnish the company's brand were the funding source made public. And the results have been absolutely corrosive to our democracy.
I am writing to urge the SEC 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. Disclosures should be posted promptly on the SEC's web site.
I thank you for considering my comments.
Sincerely,
Nancy Ranieri