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1. 

   HabaneroBuck said, 24 days ago

   Hey, I agree with Eagan, bailouts are no good for the economy, the taxpayer, or the “girlfriend”!

2. 

   Flight Suit said, 22 days ago

   Back in this nation’s early days, all corporations were required by law to justify their continued existence on an annual basis. It’s a shame that requirement was ever lifted.

3. 

   3hourtour said, 22 days ago

   …ummm..

4. 

   ChuckTrent64 said, 21 days ago

   Flight Suit, that sounds interesting. Do you have a source for that info? I’d like to know more about it.

5. 

   Flight Suit said, 21 days ago

   ChuckTrent64, here’s an excerpt:

   “The first blow to increasing corporate power came in 1795 as the pace of incorporations continued to expand. There was a movement to grant general charters to alleviate the problems with hearings and petitions. North Carolina was the first state in 1795 to enact a general incorporation law, followed by Massachusetts in 1799, New York in 1811 and Connecticut in 1837.2 However, some states required more than a simple majority for granting, renewing or altering a corporate charter. In 1840s, citizens in New York, Delaware, Michigan and Florida required a two-thirds vote of their state legislatures to do so. In Wisconsin and four other states every bank charter had to first be approved by the voters within the state and then the charter was recommended by their legislatures.

   Nevertheless, even under a general incorporation law, states still treated the corporate charters as a privilege and restricted the activities of corporations to a great extent. The following comprises some of the limitations placed on corporations by various states.

   Limited Duration: Charters were granted only for a period of 10, 20 or 30 years
   after which the corporation had to be
   liquidated and the proceeds distributed
   among the shareholders.”

   Furthermore…

   “Revocable Charters: States maintained the right to revoke or change a charter at the will of the its legislature. Almost all of the states adopted this clause after 1820.”

   And here’s the source:

   http://www.aracnet.com/~gdy52150/colaw.html

   Google “early American corporate law,” all in quotation marks, and you’ll find more.