Standing up to a corporate bully

I have always wondered why towns or states have always been too weak-kneed to stand up to corporate bullies. Whether it's the likes of Boeing who ditched Seattle, sports teams who have shopped around for handouts or this story of Maytag, which kept its hand out for giveaways from a small town in Illinois but still closed its doors and send 1,600 to the unemployment lines, it always sickens me to watch such immoral corporate behavior. What's worse is that everyone always just sits there and takes it without standing up for themselves.

I have written and managed contracts with business partners for years and when you give something you get something in return. If the other party fails to live up to its end of the deal there are consequences and it is never one-sided. Thankfully some people in Galesburg, Illinois are fighting back and want Maytag to pay back the corporate handouts that they received in earlier concessions. Big Business has a moral and ethical duty to uphold its end of bargains and we should not accept anything else. Giving in to a bully just does not work.