Ok I have an idea.....lets let another business in Janesville disappear! Just let more good paying jobs fall by the wayside! Almost every company in this economy is facing similar situations. I'm sure this was the last thing they wanted to do. The future looks very bright for us at Rath we just have to weather this difficult time.

I was a child that grew up with parents who milked the system for all it was worth! Every 7 years they filed bankruptcy and lived off welfare and got food stamps. They always lived way beyond their means and it was embarrassing for us as kids who had free lunch and everyone knew our parents were the deadbeats! It is now the thing to do,and that is sad! We have lost the self worth of earning our own way because, at the expense of other people, we get a bailout for our bad behavior! I'm so glad that I got off that rollercoaster when I moved out of my parents house! But it's sad the way the world is going now!!

What, so now every bankruptcy involves a bailout? What public money is involved in this one? Please be specific.
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The law hasn't changed since 2005, when there was a Republican House, a Republican Senate, and a Republican President.

I can only imagine Mr. and Mrs. Rath and Duane turning over in their graves at how their lifelong business and dreams have ended up.

These people built this business from the ground up, sacrificing, saving, and tending to business in an honest, forthright manner - only to have it end up in the gutter like this.

Granted, it's Chapter 11....but I know if Mrs. Rath was still alive, those words would have never come into her vocabulary when it came to their business. No finer business people ever entered the business world than the Raths. It's painful to see their name associated with a bankruptcy.

Hockey - what do you call it? If the pot is black, call it black then. By the way, I am not a Rush fan. He is to nutty for me.

Boy, localboy, Rush Limbaugh programmed you well. You managed to fit "liberal" and "socialism" in the same post.

doc - this business plan is being taught at your liberal business colleges every day. Bankruptcy is the way to go, because the banks don't get hurt, as they have a lifeline of money from the government. Only the tax payers get burned.....which is exactly what the Obama camp wants. He wants you to rely only on the government for all of your needs (food, medical, jobs, money, and personal decisions). This is what socialism is all about.

doc0430, RathGibson is in Chapter 11, which is a reorganization bankruptcy. There are some obligations which may be discarded, but in essence it is court protection in which to extend the time to repay debts or refinance debts through other investment. This is not walking away from debts. That might be the case if they filed Chapter 7 liquidation, but in that case the business ceases to exist and the owners are generally wiped out.
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elmooso, bankruptcy is never a painless process, and it is only available if you are actually insolvent (i.e. unable to repay your debts in a meaningful time frame). Almost all personal bankruptcies are linked to an unambiguous external event such as job loss, divorce, business failure, or medical bills.

Yes doc.. you can run up your credit cards and amass all kinds of debt..then file for bankruptcy..that's how it works..

Thats great that Rath will be able to walk away from as many as 5000 creditors to become stronger than ever, but won't that have an affect on the creditors (ie: the banks that are getting bailouts) bottom line? $319 million is still a lot! When is this going to end and what makes this not stealing? Can I run up all my credit cards get loans to buy everything I need then file bankruptcy? NO! So why are these companies allowed to, what the difference between this and stealing? I'll tell ya the difference~ it's government approved....... And it almost seems to be encouraged thats still wrong! This country didn't become stronger after the great depression by taking the easy way out, they worked very hard and were responsible which doesn't seem to be the way these companies operate these days!
How sad this story actually is when you think about it..........

I see this as becoming A trend now that with the new governments assistance with the GM bailouts and bankruptcy of which they now claim to be out of, and why not #1 they screwed the country out of BILLIONS of tax dollars (they claimed they needed so they wouldn't have to file) then filed bankruptcy and thousands and thousands of people lost there jobs, only to come out of bankruptcy 40 days later saying look at us we're the new and improved GM now (and the government owns us!) we're out of trouble and this is what you could do to...... What kind of message does that send I ask? 40 days in bankruptcy reorganization, get billions and billions of government money (and oh yeah they're scheduled to recieve billions more still THIS YEAR!) after this example I see more large companies doing the same thing and then gradually it will work it's way down to smaller companies, as the economy stays like this and maybe they feel they have no choice. But years ago I was taught you just need to be smarter- don't spend above your means- watch your bottom line and don't extend yourself further than you can recover from in the case of an emergency, and this economy folks is an emergency! Scary part is the government is amassing HUGE mountains of debt that we are borrowing from china and whats going to happen when that money comes due to be paid back? Do you think China will let us be that roomate we all probably had at one time "dude I'm a little short this month I'll catch ya later" I somehow don't think that one will fly! All I know is yes this country was A big mess when Bush left but it sure seems to be heading quickly in the wrong direction further away from recovery and further into the abyss of debt (unless your the recipiant of A government bailout) Hey Mr President~ where's MY BAILOUT?????