Mark Rubin, Author at Mark Rubin

Disney Defeats DeSantis

April 2, 2023

Disney Defeats DeSantis

Governor Ron DeSantis

Mickey Mouse and his Spouse

Gov. Ron DeSantis (R – Fla.) plays down his background, which includes a law degree from Harvard Law School. (He plays a redneck in real life!) Maybe that explains the governor and wanna be POTUS’s big-time fail on the matter of The Walt Disney Company and the Reedy Creek Improvement District.

Some history. By the mid-1960s, Disney owned land in Florida. More than 40 square miles in and around Orlando. Wanting control over its destiny, Disney got the Florida legislature to pass the Reedy Creek Improvement District. Disney got the control it required, along with a money machine. Florida took its cut, and Orlando – or, as an old

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Donald Trump Heads for the Big Apple

March 31, 2023

Mark Rubin

Donald Trump Heads for the Big Apple

Donald J. Trump

Indictments charge people with crimes. No more, no less! But no one should ever want to be indicted! No one!

The wrath of the law approaches Mr. Trump often, but now it has touched him like it never has before. He will be photographed – full on and from the side – and fingerprinted. The court will surely release him on his own recognizance, but I expect that he will have to forfeit his passport. (That assumes he has a current one.) He will likely face other mobility restrictions, and it will be unwise for him to thumb his nose at or raise a middle digit in the direction of

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Bye-bye Matthew Scarber

March 16, 2023

Mark Rubin

Bye-bye Matthew Scarber

Matthew Scarber

Matthew Scarber has left Rubin & Bernstein PLLC. People come and go in workplaces, but Matt’s departure deserves a few words.

Rubin & Bernstein exists because of Matt. The story was present on our website for years, but it’s worth sharing here:

Mark: Leigh stepped up, when an old friend who taught at the KU law school asked her to look out for a student from Tucson. She did, for there’s no one who needs a little help who Leigh won’t step up for.

Leigh: Mark took on a case in the fall of 2017 and needed help. Lawyers – those with firms and malpractice insurance, etc. – said no thanks, for time

matthew scarber, Rubin & Bernstein PLLC

Law

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Balloons, Balloons, Balloons!

February 15, 2023

Mark Rubin

Balloons, Balloons, Balloons!

Mark Rubin

Balloons, balloons, balloons! Decades ago, a Tucson businessman name Sid Omansky ran commercials for his appliance store – which focused on selling color television sets – with the tagline Balloons, balloons, balloons. (Competitor Ted Flash TV ads, voiced by talented Frank Kalil, closed with “Open … and Sundays after church.”)

I thought of Sid’s because of the balloon controversy. What a load of nonsense! Pure, unadulterated Nonsense!!!

A Non-Story

First, does anyone think China will learn anything significant – anything it can’t learn by other means – by floating a great big airbag over our nation? That we risked our national secrets because we didn’t shoot the effing thing down before it left the Pacific

balloons, China, Congress, Senate, Venn diagram

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The Corporate Transparency Act: Be Afraid. Be Very Afraid.

January 17, 2023

Mark Rubin

The Corporate Transparency Act: Be Afraid. Be Very Afraid.

Mark Rubin

The Corporate Transparency Act

Congress passed the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA) as part of the National Defense Authorization Act on January 2, 2021. It did so by overriding President Donald Trump’s veto. (Maybe it offered another reason to want to tear down the house four days later.)

The CTA required action by a division of the Treasury Department – the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network for implementation. Its Final Rule – 99 pages of dense text – issued on September 30, 2022. The law takes effect as of January 1, 2024, but it gives entities in existence as of December 31, 2023 one year to report. Entities established on or

corporate transparency act, CTA, money laundering, reporting

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Who Decides Elections

December 6, 2022

Mark Rubin

Who Decides Elections

Mark Rubin

The U.S. Supreme Court hears oral arguments in Moore v. Harper, No. 21-1271, on Wednesday, December 7, 2022. To suggest that democracy in America depends on the outcome of this case does not overstate its importance. The notion that the likely outcome might render voters irrelevant in many jurisdictions ought to scare every reader, regardless of political leanings.

Moore v. Harper

The issue, as set forth at SCOTUSblog, is:

Whether a state’s judicial branch may nullify the regulations governing the ‘Manner of holding Elections for Senators and Representatives … prescribed … by the Legislature thereof,’ and replace them with regulations of the state courts’ own devising, based on vague state constitutional provisions purportedly vesting

independent state legislature theory, moore v. harper, rucho v. common cause, U.S. Supreme Court

Law

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Vote Like Your Life Depends On It!

November 7, 2022

Mark Rubin

Vote like your life depends on it!

Mark Rubin

Vote. Vote like your life depends on it. It matters greatly!

Crime

Be smart, too. Senators and Representatives have almost nothing to do with crime. (When we talk about crime, we mean property crimes and violent crimes?) Criminal laws exist at the state level, but for a limited number of crimes which the United States Code defines. Want to say something about crime? Elections for sheriff matter a bit, as do those elections for District or County Attorney. Truth be told, though, crime occurs for a slew of reasons that have nothing to do with elected officials at any level. Want to reduce crime? Improve economic conditions and support services

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Stephens / NYT / Climate Change

October 31, 2022

Mark Rubin

Stephens / NYT / Climate Change

Bret Stephens

I am a Sunday NYT subscriber. The paper arrives early, in its blue bag. It sits on the sidewalk for days, usually. Next stop? Atop the doghouse on what might be called the front porch.* Etc. My point? If I didn’t have to get a paper copy to access the online paper, I’d pass. Not my thing, simply!

Until October 28, 2022. I saw Yes, Greenland’s Ice Is Melting by Bret Stephens, went to print it out to read it – long – and saw lots of art. I decided to wait until Sunday and make a rare newsprint date. And I am glad I did.

Mr. Stephens shares his conservative perspective

Bret Stephens, climate change, John Englander, New York Times

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Politics: What a Mess!

October 22, 2022

Mark Rubin

Politics: What a Mess!

Mark Rubin

Schadenfreude: The Bannon Thing

Schadenfreude. Taking pleasure in another person’s misery. Not my thing, mostly, but every “not so much” provides a basis for exceptions.

I encountered Steve Bannon more than 25 years ago. My partner sued him and I went to work on the case soon after. I only suffered through being in this man’s presence once, but that contact – coupled with the actions that supported the lawsuit – offered many reasons to dislike him. (The actions that formed the basis for the suit provided better ones.)

It took me moments, when Americans started hearing about this guy, to realize I knew him and had sued him. Candidly, the only doubt occurred

carly simon, democracy, gas prices, Ian Hamilton, Joanna Simon, Lucy Simon, polls, Steve Bannon, voter intimidation

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Accepting Results When You Lose

October 17, 2022

Mark Rubin

Accepting Results When You Lose

Mark Rubin

I turned 65 almost five weeks ago. Thank you and all of you for providing me with guaranteed health insurance coverage through Medicare. Not sure if I am a net winner or loser, and we should ALL have access to affordable health care. Not what I am here about today, but thanks anyway.

I mention my age because people even younger than I am grew up with bromides from our mothers and fathers. One, of course, was Nobody likes a sore loser. Turns out, I am sorry to say, that Mom and Dad – mine, at least – got it wrong. About 40% of Americans like, and I mean, Really Like, the sorest

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