Let's say you bought a house 15 years ago when economic times were good. You dutifully paid your monthly mortgage for over a decade, but 2 years ago you lost your job and haven't found one since. As bills continue to pile up and home values continue to tank, you might consider simply walking away from your dream home.
Corporate America is aghast. Not only is it immoral not to honor your signed contract, they screech, but it is not legal either. In a free market world, contracts are sacred. When two or more parties voluntarily sign a contract, all parties have both a legal and moral obligation to abide by its terms.
That's what is pounded into our brains again and again and again...unless it is a corporation that wants to back out of said terms. All of a sudden, the moral and legal arguments go flying out the door.
Case in point. Forty or so years ago, Entergy Corporation signed an agreement with the State of Vermont in order to build the Yankee nuclear power plant. One of the stipulations was that Entergy would need to seek approval from the state if it sought to extend the life of the plant beyond 40 years.
Before going to the state, Entergy went to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) and was granted a 20 year extension. Unfortunately for the energy giant, despite the NRC decision, Vermont decided NOT to grant an extension. So now, Entergy is going to court to try to get out of the contract.
This is a common problem. Corporations agree to terms with the government or individual consumers as a strategy to get their products and services purchased or to be granted the green light to build. They will agree to almost anything because they have no intent whatsoever of living up to THEIR end of the bargain.
I'm sure they expect that in the subsequent years they can pressure the government or consumers to accept modifications to the existing contract that are more in the corporation's best financial interests. Most of the time, this certainly turns out to be the case.
However, when corporations are unable to wrangle new terms, they simply try to get out of their legal obligations through the court system. This strategy also proves successful a good deal of the time because big corporations have deep pockets which allows them, in a manner of speaking, to purchase the verdict they prefer.
Yes, a contract is a contract is a contract...unless you are a corporation. In that case, a contract is nothing more than tissue paper to sneeze on!!
Corporate America is aghast. Not only is it immoral not to honor your signed contract, they screech, but it is not legal either. In a free market world, contracts are sacred. When two or more parties voluntarily sign a contract, all parties have both a legal and moral obligation to abide by its terms.
That's what is pounded into our brains again and again and again...unless it is a corporation that wants to back out of said terms. All of a sudden, the moral and legal arguments go flying out the door.
Case in point. Forty or so years ago, Entergy Corporation signed an agreement with the State of Vermont in order to build the Yankee nuclear power plant. One of the stipulations was that Entergy would need to seek approval from the state if it sought to extend the life of the plant beyond 40 years.
Before going to the state, Entergy went to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) and was granted a 20 year extension. Unfortunately for the energy giant, despite the NRC decision, Vermont decided NOT to grant an extension. So now, Entergy is going to court to try to get out of the contract.
This is a common problem. Corporations agree to terms with the government or individual consumers as a strategy to get their products and services purchased or to be granted the green light to build. They will agree to almost anything because they have no intent whatsoever of living up to THEIR end of the bargain.
I'm sure they expect that in the subsequent years they can pressure the government or consumers to accept modifications to the existing contract that are more in the corporation's best financial interests. Most of the time, this certainly turns out to be the case.
However, when corporations are unable to wrangle new terms, they simply try to get out of their legal obligations through the court system. This strategy also proves successful a good deal of the time because big corporations have deep pockets which allows them, in a manner of speaking, to purchase the verdict they prefer.
Yes, a contract is a contract is a contract...unless you are a corporation. In that case, a contract is nothing more than tissue paper to sneeze on!!
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