Herman Cain’s Bankruptcy Rant Shows Bankrupt Understanding Of The Constitution

By Ian Millhiser and Zaid Jilani

Herman Cain kicked off his campaign last week by lecturing the country on its need to “reread the Constitution” — even though Cain himself couldn’t tell the difference between the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence. Sadly, this does not appear to be an isolated incident. Last October on his radio show, Cain launched into a impassioned rant about how federal bankruptcy law violates the Constitution:

All of the talk about a national foreclosure freeze . . . all they’re trying to do is appeal to people’s emotions. You see, the United States federal government, folks, has no jurisdiction over bankruptcy law. States do!

So, if some states decide that they want to investigate some of these phony or incomplete foreclosures, it’s up to the states. This is not even under the jurisdiction of the federal government! But it sounds good. It really sounds good, though.

Watch it:

Once again, Cain really should try reading our founding document before he lectures others about it. According to Article I of the Constitution, “[t]he Congress shall have power . . . [t]o establish a uniform rule of naturalization, and uniform laws on the subject of bankruptcies throughout the United States.” So the Constitution actually says the exact opposite of what Cain claims it says, because Congress power to make “uniform” bankruptcy laws prevents the states from creating their own rules for bankruptcy.

Or, to put it another way, claiming that helping foreclosure victims is unconstitutional may “sound good” to Cain’s right-wing supporters, but it has no basis whatsoever in the actual Constitution.