Can't add much to the points made above. Corporate bankruptcy and personal bankruptcy are different animals.




But the premise of the question is also false. In the first instance, corporate bankruptcy is not always considered reasonable. Look at the airline industry, which has been abusing the bankruptcy laws for decades. Second, since when are people who declare personal bankruptcy "vilified"? In fact, the options available to people who have declared bankruptcy are much wider than they used to be. Furthermore, it's not as if personal bankruptcy abuse never happens, even if it's not as widespread as the credit card companies would have you believe.

Cali got bilked billions by Entergy, who used the money to buy an NFL team(Texans).

The company helped lobby for support to talbian(alongside Enron) prior to 9-11 also. The 42 million Colin Powell requested sent there by Congress was stricken from the record on 9-12 by Cheney.

Follow.The.Money.

As for Bankruptcy, it simply means people will have to personally incorpirate selves(see also Mrs.Cheney) or they could file suit on the basis of Amendment 14 and equal protection unless Business is forbade such right.

At least that is the approach people should use to bring down the abominable law that codifies different standards for the rich and big busienss. There's a loophole for the affluent to claim the bankruptcy privilege as well.

With all respect what do you think a corporation is?  When most corporations go into bankruptcy the shareholders, union pension funds, IRAs, 401Ks, get wiped out.  The only people who may or may not survive are debtholders and perhaps management though normally the bondholders get rid of management too.  

If Entergy was to be driven out of business because the Left has a paranoid view of corporations what would happen to all the people who work for them?

It seems to me that the Left's view of corporations is as unsophisticated and misleading as is the Rights view of the poor.

Believe me, Daniel, I don't want Entergy out of business.  They are my energy supplier.  I want to see the same consideration given to ordinary citizens as to the big corporations.

I do fault the corporations for paying bloated salaries to their top-echelon executives, regardless of performance, while cutting benefits for their workers.  Some of the compensation packages for the executives are obscene, IMO.

I'd just like to see a little fairness in operation.

Could we get a reality check here? Chapter 11 reorganizations don't just devote all of a company's assets to its creditors. In plenty of cases the reorganization plan not only keeps current management in place but also preserves substantial ownership for current stockholders. That's why the shares of companies in chapter 11 don't cease trading.

 Many companies (Entergy apparently included) use Chapter 11 to prevent creditors from making claims on their assets during the time it takes to work out a reorganization plan (which can be several years). Every supplier or bondholder whom Entergy was supposed to pay today, tomorrow, or next month now has to get in line and wait for either the reorganization plan or for special permission from a bankruptcy judge to get paid. It's not implausible, in a case like this, that the company will simply be able to delay payments (without fighting tens of thousands of lawsuits or fighting seizure of its trucks, generators, transmission lines or offices) until such time as it has enough revenue to start paying its bills again.

As someone else noted, it's particularly convenient that they can shed obligations to current and former employees as well as to suppliers during this difficult period. 

 

I have to disagree that personal bk is more lenient than corporate bk in reality. 

First, Chapter 11 allows the debtor to reorganize itself under extremely favorable terms (lawsuits stayed, executory contracts voided, pensions dumped, etc.).  Chapter 13 allows a person to reorganize under supervision of a judge while having his/her wages garnished. 

Second, Chapter 11 filing suddenly creates a huge influx of DIP ("debtor in possession") financing as the debtor becomes a far better risk for banks.  Chapter 13 effectively ruins a person's creditworthiness for at least 7 years, and perhaps longer. 

Third, companies that go into Chapter 11 are not stigmatized, but are seen as seeking a fresh start.  People going into Chapter 13 are labelled as trying to avoid responsibility and are economically discriminated against in the future as a result. 

This is obviously not an exhaustive comparison as to why a debtor in possession under Chapter 11 is in better shape than a person filing Chapter 13, but I think it highlights some relatively important distinctions.

Entergy has taken over our member owned electric company.  The last two bills we received were each $100 higher.  They showed we had used a 1000 kilowatts more than we had the same period last year on both of them.  Part of the charge was a surcharge for the cost of energy to them.
Many have complained to the electric company that their Kilowatt usage went up, too. The weather has been the same.  We did get a new meter box about two years ago, I guess they waited until the energy bill passed to rev it up.
They say they use one third coal to create the electricity and coal has went up.  IF they buy coal, I bet they own the company they buy from, so they double their profits. How our member owned, profitable, nuclear powered electric  company has ended up in the hands of  those people is a puzzle. 
Carroll electic, the original company, was supposed to pay us money for surpluses on what we pay in on our bill,  that is profit.  They are 15 years behind in paying those.  We have about $3,000 due us.  It is ecked out at about  $70 a year, but at least we got a little back. It may be we lost the money when Entergy took over.  I may just remind them they owe us money. If nothing else we will lose it in the bankruptcy.
We paid double what the people in town paid for electricity for years in order to pay for a nuclear power plant.  The last I had heard we almost had it paid for and costs were to go down.
Are you saying Entergy is the same company that ripped off California? 
Is this the new energy bill at work?  The DLC voted for the energy bill.  I remember it took some regulations off of the utility companies that FDR had put in.
I don't know why we bother having a public service commission.  They are watch dogs, all right. They watch them rip us off.
I think every crook in the world has influence over our government and it keeps getting worse and worse. And they have just began. 
We should see some perp walks, but we won't. 
Bankruptcy, in the case of Kmart wiped out all the debts and the stocks became worthless.  They kept the stores and had a fresh start. Those who bought new Kmart stocks have made a lot of money. 

The newspapers say Entergy has 80% of their power on.

They are saying they may not go for bankruptcy, they may go for a rate hike instead.

They made 10 billion profit last year.  They have made even more this year if our costs and or  neighbors electric bills are any indication.  They surcharged the amount of the increased cost of energy and showed everyone using more electricity.

You would think they would be too rich to go bankrupt.  You would think that sometimes they could bite the bullet and not make as much profit when something like Katrina comes up.

They will milk the hurricanes for everything they can. (So will the insurance companies).  These companies have reserves.

Democrats should run against the high cost of utilities and promise to roll back their obscene profits.  That would increase their votes mega big time.

Daniel,
As a former owner of a substantial corporation, I understand the significant lack of ethics and moral behavior in the corporate world.  We don't hold people in those positions accountable. I doubt seriously that paranoia is unjustified.  We only hear about the people who get caught.  The corruption and abuse of corporations is appalling.  Owner/operators are squashed in the game if they don't play along with the corrupted rules of business like paying bills slow, and hammering customers for faster payments, just to get free financing by breaking promises, for example.

This isn't a political matter, this is a human condition.  Don't label me "left" because I used to be a registered Republican - now I am neither Republican or Democrat.  Both parties are corrupt in my opinion.

A lack of concern for the poor, in fact, abuse of the poor is wrong in every sense of the concept.  Our political "right" is out of control.  There is no sense of treating people as human beings. This isn't a political matter.  A lack of concern for the poor is evil, and those who lack that concern for their fellow human beings may one day find themselves on the other side of the fence and learn a lesson about that.