Posted on November 29th, 2011 at 2:18 pm by Steve
Corporations are legal "persons," and, like you and me, enter into binding legal contracts. One difference is, when they go bankrupt, they just "shed" their obligations and move on. You and I aren't usually so lucky.
A case in point is extreme financial distress. For a person, this might be caused by a loss of employment, or sudden illness; for a corporation, it could be a drop in business, excessive operational costs, or bad planning. In either case: revenue is down, costs are up, and the balance sheet is negative.
If you're a person, this kind of crisis means that you'll suffer direct hardships: the things you own get taken away, and if you actually still earn money, your future earnings are pledged to your creditors. If you have a mortgage, you're typically foreclosed and lose your home. Your car gets repossessed. Your belongings are sold off to pay your debts.
Ah, but if you're a corporation, things are different! You can simply "shed" those expensive obligations and soldier on! Well, you can't shed all your contracts – just the ones you made with your employees:
AMR [American Airlines' parent company] was determined to avoid Chapter 11 as air travel fell and losses mounted after the 2001 terrorist attacks, even as peers used bankruptcy to shed costly pension and retiree benefit plans and restructure debt.(Source: Bloomberg Business Week, November 29, 2011) Of course, the obligations you made to your peers (i.e., other corporations) must still be honored. These debts will be "restructured." But your contractual promises to pay for the doctor visits and medicine for the thousands of people who gave you 30 of the best years of their lives? Those you can "shed" like a tired skin you've outgrown.
“You would expect a leaner, stronger company to emerge from bankruptcy,” Chris Logan, an analyst at Echelon Research & Advisory LLP in London, said today by telephone. “As they are in Chapter 11, it will be more easy to demand concessions from the labor force.”Ah yes, "concessions from the labor force!" In other words, the executives hold a gun to the heads of the employee unions and offer them a choice: either some of you lose your jobs and the rest lose your benefits and even more of your salary, or all of you lose your jobs and your benefits and all of your salary. Some choice. It's not like we haven't been down this road before, with this very company. American's pilots, flight attendants, mechanics, gate agents, baggage handlers – you know, the people who actually make the planes fly and keep the passengers safe – these very employees took a 30% pay cut back in 2003 in hopes of avoiding a bankruptcy proceeding. Those poor saps! Now, instead of regaining the $1,600,000,000 that they gave up eight years ago, they're being told that they're still earning too much, and that if they don't make further sacrifices, they'll all lose their jobs. While the workers have already taken huge pay cuts, given up their pensions, and paid more in health insurance premiums, American's executives have somehow managed to escape harm. In 2008, the same year his airline lost more than $2 BILLION the boss's compensation package topped $5 million. But, pity poor Gerald Arpey: that $5 mil was a 22% drop over his 2007 compensation. A quick glance at the headlines will tell you that, even through huge losses and now bankruptcy, The 1% at AMR are doing just fine: "Despite losses, American Airlines CEO's compensation climbs" - Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Apr. 21, 2011; "Executive compensation at American Airlines raises eyebrows" - Tulsa World, April 19, 2010; "AP says Arpey earned $6.6 million in 2007" - Dallas Morning News, April 19, 2008. Thus do the executives of the corporate entity continue to prosper and thrive, continuing to do their "jobs" of running the business, while thousands of employees are laid off, and tens of thousands more lose the only hope they had of actually being able to, you know, survive their retirement years on something other than handouts and cat food. Although all of that can change.
Buy Zithromax Without Prescription, So, rising floodwaters in Nebraska have 
Clomid For Sale, Imagine a "station blackout" occurs at the Pilgrim Nuclear Generation Station in Plymouth, MA. Within days, where can i cheapest Clomid online, Purchase Clomid, a hydrogen explosion shatters the secondary containment building, possibly breaching primary containment as well, Clomid price, coupon. Clomid natural, The government orders a mandatory evacuation for areas within 20 km of the plant, but the BBC World Service is saying that the British government has advised their citizens not to travel within 50 miles of Plymouth, Clomid overnight. Clomid without prescription, This catastrophe at Plymouth (or Seabrook, or Vermont Yankee, Clomid images, Clomid from canada, or Millstone in Connecticut) hasn't happened...yet. But the notion that "it can't happen here" has taken quite a beating over the last month, Clomid pharmacy. If and when a disaster like this strikes, we'll have hours to evacuate, Clomid For Sale. Clomid reviews, Think for a moment what it would take to evacuate just the inner "exclusion zone" around one of these reactors. Where are we going to put all the people from Brockton, Clomid over the counter, Comprar en línea Clomid, comprar Clomid baratos, Plymouth, Taunton, Clomid no rx, Clomid dosage, Fall River, Buzzards Bay, buy cheap Clomid no rx, Clomid for sale, Sandwich.... And what about the more than a million people that live within 50 miles, after Clomid. Effects of Clomid, Remember that, even now, order Clomid online overnight delivery no prescription, Clomid street price, the US government is advising Americans not to travel within 50 miles of Fukushima, a month after the crisis began, Clomid alternatives. Clomid For Sale, How can we avoid travel to the entire Boston metro area. Buy Clomid from canada, Of course, Pilgrim only has one reactor, Clomid australia, uk, us, usa, Discount Clomid, where Fukushima Daiichi has six. On the other hand, rx free Clomid, Clomid steet value, Pilgrim has more than TWO MILLION POUNDS of radioactive spent fuel assemblies stored on site. A loss of coolant water in the tightly-packed spent fuel pool at Plymouth – which has far less containment, order Clomid online c.o.d, Clomid from canadian pharmacy, and far more fuel, than the reactor core – could quickly lead to a fire and a massive excursion of radioactive isotopes of cesium, what is Clomid, Effects of Clomid, strontium, iodine, Clomid description, Clomid from canada, and others. An explosion could spread deadly plutonium and uranium particles for miles (as happened at Fukushima), Clomid without a prescription. In other words, even with fewer reactors, a station blackout at Plymouth could have worse radiological consequences than the ongoing disaster in Japan, Clomid For Sale. Where can i cheapest Clomid online, 
Buy Flagyl Without Prescription, Spotted on Somerville Avenue next to McGrath Highway... once the haunt of Mrs, order Flagyl from United States pharmacy. After Flagyl, B and a long-departed Stop & Shop; later the home of electronics retailer Fretter; and, most recently, Flagyl dosage, Flagyl online cod, host to the lowest rung of the TJX retail hierarchy, the now-defunct A.J, where can i find Flagyl online. Cheap Flagyl no rx, Wright. Flagyl coupon. Where can i buy Flagyl online. Buy cheap Flagyl no rx. Discount Flagyl. About Flagyl. Flagyl treatment. Flagyl blogs. Buying Flagyl online over the counter. Flagyl brand name. Buy cheap Flagyl. Flagyl pharmacy. Flagyl price. Is Flagyl safe. Buy Flagyl online no prescription. Doses Flagyl work. Buy Flagyl from canada. Purchase Flagyl online no prescription. Order Flagyl no prescription. Japan, craiglist, ebay, overseas, paypal. Flagyl recreational. Flagyl pics. Is Flagyl addictive. Flagyl price, coupon. Flagyl wiki. Order Flagyl online overnight delivery no prescription. Flagyl forum. Buy generic Flagyl. Where can i order Flagyl without prescription. Buy Flagyl online cod. Flagyl gel, ointment, cream, pill, spray, continuous-release, extended-release. Flagyl duration. Buy Flagyl from mexico. Flagyl schedule. Buy Flagyl no prescription.
. Buy no prescription Celexa online. Purchase Celexa. Celexa treatment. Where can i buy Celexa online. Buy generic Celexa. Is Celexa safe. Online buy Celexa without a prescription. What is Celexa. Where can i find Celexa online. Purchase Celexa online no prescription. Celexa pictures. Celexa coupon. Celexa brand name. Celexa long term. Celexa description. Order Celexa from United States pharmacy. Where can i buy cheapest Celexa online. Celexa used for. Celexa use. Online Celexa without a prescription. Celexa steet value. Celexa alternatives. About Celexa. Celexa samples. Real brand Celexa online. Celexa over the counter. Get Celexa. No prescription Celexa online. My Celexa experience. Celexa recreational. Buy Celexa without a prescription. Buy cheap Celexa. Celexa no rx. Celexa blogs.

Buy Biaxin Without Prescription, ...the masters of the American economy (and, thus, the people whose largely unaccountable decisions determine the material fortunes of most people in our country) don't give a flying fuck about you, me, or anyone else we know: