CEOs play hide and seek.

• Author: Hightower, Jim
• Position: Vox Populist

If corporations are people, as the Supreme Court pretends, they certainly are loudmouths, constantly telling us how great they are and spreading their names everywhere.

All of a sudden, though, these corporate creatures have suddenly turned demure, insisting that they don't want to draw any attention to themselves.

That's because, in this case, corporations are not selling, but buying--specifically, trying to buy public office for their pet political candidates by funneling millions of corporate dollars through such front groups as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. In turn, the fronts use the money to air nasty attack ads that smear the opponents of the pro-corporate candidates.

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Why do corporations need a middleman?

Because the ads are so partisan and vicious that they would appall millions of customers, employees, and shareholders of the corporation. So, rather than besmirch their own names, the corporate powers have meekly retreated behind the skirts of Republican political outfits like the Chamber.

But don't front groups have to report (at least to election authorities) who's really behind their ads, so voters can make informed decisions?

Nope.

Thanks to the Supreme Court's infamous Citizen United edict in 2010, such groups can now pour unlimited sums of corporate cash into elections without ever disclosing the names of their funders. This "dark money" channel has essentially established secret political campaigning in America.

That's why shareholders and other democracy advocates are asking the Securities and Exchange Commission to rule that the corporate giants must reveal to shareholders all political donations their executives make with corporate funds. After all, the millions of dollars the executives are using to play politics don't belong to them. They belong to the shareholders, and by no means do the shareholders all agree on who the best candidate is.

Hide and seek can be a fun game for kids, but it's infuriating when CEOs play it in our elections. Last year, corporate interests sought to elect their candidates by hiding much of their politicking not only from company owners but also from us, the voters. In all, hundreds of mil lions in dark...