Precious little democracy in campaign finance ruling

I'm sorry to disagree with Sean Parnell of the Center for Competitive Politics ("Court's campaign finance ruling a free speech victory," July 8), but I cannot see any practical democracy in the Supreme Court's "Citizens United" ruling.

Elective offices are now for sale to the highest bidder, which puts the richest Americans firmly and permanently in the driver's seat. As long as this pernicious decision remains unchallenged in the legislature, the United States is and will remain plutocratic, and ordinary citizens' voices are effectively silenced by the shouts of organizations and candidates with limitless budgets for the purchase of air time. Period.

Thad Paulhamus, Baltimore