Categories: BankruptcyPresidential Candidates

2016 Presidential Candidates on the Issues: Bankruptcy Reform

Truthfully, information on the 2016 Presidential candidates positions concerning bankruptcy reform is pretty thin on the ground. There are six people who are or have been in positions to have an effect on bankruptcy law at the federal or state level via various positions in government over the course of their careers. Ben Carson has been a private citizen without ever declaring bankruptcy. Donald Trump has had four businesses that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcies in the past eighteen years.

Republican Party
Jeb (John Ellis) Bush	Tenet Healthcare Board of Directors 2007-Present, Former Governor of Florida 1999- 2007. Said during the recent debate, “We don’t need a president who thinks it is a victory to go bankrupt.” Wants to prevent Chapter 7 use by those who have the ability to pay; give state claims equal footing with federal claims, maintain domestic support as a debt that cannot be discharged; protect state exemptions and standards. Support more reforms to bankruptcy process as long as state’s role is protected.
Ben Carson	Johns Hopkins Director of Pediatric Neurosurgery 1984-2013. Author. No position on record. However, the campaign’s spending record is enough to make Fortune comment and the campaign’s finance chair resigned in January. Supports Puerto Rico’s right to file for bankruptcy under Chapter 9.
Ted Cruz	United States Senator from Texas 2013-Present, Morgan, Lewis, & Bockius LLP 2008-2013, Solicitor General of Texas 2003-2008. Associate deputy attorney general, U.S. Department of Justice; director of the Office of Policy Planning, Federal Trade Commission both positions held during the Bush Administration. Not much from this candidate either, though the bankruptcy of his father may have had some impact on him as a teen in the 1980s.
John Kasich	Governor, State of Ohio, 2011-present, US House of Representatives, 12^thcongressional district of Ohio 1983-2001, candidate for President 2000, Lehman Brothers, Managing Director; Columbus, Ohio. Despite this time at Lehman Brothers, one of the firms that Titaniced the global economy in 2008, the candidate was a managing director at a local office, not hanging out with Dick Fuld and scheming how to spend his seven-figure bonus.
Marco Rubio	United States Senator from Florida 2010-Present, Professor, Florida International University, Steven J. Green School of International and Public Affairs 2008-Present, Representative, 111^th District, Florida House of Representatives 2000-2008, City Commissioner for West Miami, Florida. Argued against a bill that would allow Puerto Rico to file for Chapter 9 bankruptcyand insisted that the government of Puerto Rico should be required to pursue other fiscal remedies. Scrutiny of his own finances reveals a host of red flags, questionable deals, and decisions that raise questions about his ethics and financial chops.
Donald Trump	Real Estate, Construction, Entertainment, Casinos, Golf, other ventures under Elizabeth Trump & Son, Trump Enterprises, and The Trump Organization. “We’ll have a company. We’ll throw it into a chapter. We’ll negotiate with the banks. We’ll make a fantastic deal. You know, it’s like on ‘The Apprentice.’ It’s not personal. It’s just business.” – Interview with ABC News, 2011. Trump filed for chapter 11 in 1991 for the Trump Taj Mahal, in 1992 for the Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino, in 2004 for Trump Hotels and Casinos Resorts, and 2009 for Trump Entertainment Resorts.

Republican Party

Jeb (John Ellis)

Bush

Tenet Healthcare Board of Directors 2007-Present, Former Governor of Florida 1999- 2007.

Said during the recent debate, “We don’t need a president who thinks it is a victory to go bankrupt.”
Wants to prevent Chapter 7 use by those who have the ability to pay; give state claims equal footing with federal claims, maintain domestic support as a debt that cannot be discharged; protect state exemptions and standards.
Support more reforms to bankruptcy process as long as state’s role is protected.

Ben Carson

Johns Hopkins Director of Pediatric Neurosurgery 1984-2013. Author.

No position on record. However, the campaign’s spending record is enough to make Fortune comment and the campaign’s finance chair resigned in January.
Supports Puerto Rico’s right to file for bankruptcy under Chapter 9.

Ted Cruz

United States Senator from Texas 2013-Present, Morgan, Lewis, & Bockius LLP 2008-2013, Solicitor General of Texas 2003-2008. Associate deputy attorney general, U.S. Department of Justice; director of the Office of Policy Planning, Federal Trade Commission both positions held during the Bush Administration.

Not much from this candidate either, though the bankruptcy of his father may have had some impact on him as a teen in the 1980s.

John Kasich

Governor, State of Ohio, 2011-present, US House of Representatives, 12^thcongressional district of Ohio 1983-2001, candidate for President 2000, Lehman Brothers, Managing Director; Columbus, Ohio.

Despite this time at Lehman Brothers, one of the firms that Titaniced the global economy in 2008, the candidate was a managing director at a local office, not hanging out with Dick Fuld and scheming how to spend his seven-figure bonus.

Marco Rubio

United States Senator from Florida 2010-Present, Professor, Florida International University, Steven J. Green School of International and Public Affairs 2008-Present, Representative, 111^th District, Florida House of Representatives 2000-2008, City Commissioner for West Miami, Florida.

Argued against a bill that would allow Puerto Rico to file for Chapter 9 bankruptcyand insisted that the government of Puerto Rico should be required to pursue other fiscal remedies.
Scrutiny of his own finances reveals a host of red flags, questionable deals, and decisions that raise questions about his ethics and financial chops.

Donald Trump

Real Estate, Construction, Entertainment, Casinos, Golf, other ventures under Elizabeth Trump & Son, Trump Enterprises, and The Trump Organization.

“We’ll have a company. We’ll throw it into a chapter. We’ll negotiate with the banks. We’ll make a fantastic deal. You know, it’s like on ‘The Apprentice.’ It’s not personal. It’s just business.” – Interview with ABC News, 2011.
Trump filed for chapter 11 in 1991 for the Trump Taj Mahal, in 1992 for the Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino, in 2004 for Trump Hotels and Casinos Resorts, and 2009 for Trump Entertainment Resorts.

Democratic Party

Hillary Clinton

Clinton Foundation 2013-2015, Secretary of State 2009-2013, candidate for President 2008 election United States Senator from New York 2001-2009.

Elizabeth Warren took Hillary Clinton to task for her yes vote on a bankruptcy reform bill, for which Mrs. Clinton later expressed regret and said she was relieved that it never became law.
Supports Puerto Rico’s right to declare Chapter 9 Bankruptcy.

Bernie Sanders

US House of Representatives, State of Vermont At-Large District 1991-2007, and United States Senator for Vermont 2007-Present.

Voted against HR 333 while still on the House of Representatives. This bill would have allowed the courts to move debtors from a Chapter 7 bankruptcy in which debts are wiped out and non-exempt assets are liquidated to a Chapter 13 filing, in which some type of repayment is required.

So, as you can see, there’s not a whole lot of push to get an official policy position on bankruptcy reform. I think that it’s a shame, because the system needs some comprehensive, 21^st century, reality based reforms to help people get out from under student loan debt, and to reform the current healthcare delivery system to make bankruptcy due to medical bills a thing of the past.