I hate meaningless rhetoric. And I suppose I hate meaningless rhetoric from the left more than from the right because I want to get to the heart of ideas on the left. I want to find solutions to the problems that those on the left care about: primarily poverty. That's why rhetoric like "corporate rule" bothers me. It is more obfuscatory that clarifying.
Do corporations have more power than governments? Absolutely not. Each corporation is chartered by the government in every country in which it operates. The government has total control over the corporation. It can break corporations up (like AT&T). It can prevent corporations from doing business with certain countries (like Cuba). It can prevent corporations from merging (Worldcom and Sprint). If corporations were more powerful than countries then they would not be subject to national instituions like the American Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
We hear all of the time about corporations buying politicians. There is no doubt that this occurs. But a politican's job is first and foremost to be re-elected. That means that his ultimate masters are his constituents. A corporation can only "buy" him on issues that his constituents do not care about or do not understand.
The primary role of corporate money in politics is to buy television advertisments and other media time so that corporate-backed candidates tend to win elections. This strategy can and has been beaten by grassroots organizations like Greenpeace and the Center for Auto Safety. Corporate power stems, like any other form of special interest power, from mainstream apathy. People still have the power when they choose to use it!
This is not to say that there is no problem with corporations buying politicians. It is a large problem precisely because most citizens are too busy going about their day job to watch their politicians closely. This means that the job of small-d democrats is harder. But it isn't impossible. The votes are still what count and the ultimate power still lies in whoever controls the most votes.