Rule by corporations is called a what, a Plutocracy? Corportocracy? Corrupt?

Bush attempts to nullify an entire branch of government

They state this better than I can. It kinda makes me ill.

Olbermann states it well: in Europe they vigorously regulate everything and ensure that things are safe before they hit the market. Here, we don't regulate them before hand so much as sue after they're defective: i.e. in Europe you have to prove that it's safe, in America you have to prove that it's not.

Since we do /not/ have strict regulations before something goes out (better than some countries, however Regan reduced the size of the FDA by 2/3s), the way that we have a check on corporations is through the ability to pursuit legal action.

Before you start whining about frivolous lawsuits, remember that this is the third check on our government. This country is unique in that a lone person on the streets may stand before the courts and their government and say "Hey, that's not right," and the courts can look at their case and say "Yeah, you're right, that's /not/ right."

You, citizen, have power. It's not a perfect system, but there are a heck of a lot worse.