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The Big Four

October 15, 2018

The Big Four

Mark Rubin

I wrote Estate Planning for Smart People two years ago, and updated it recently. Complete Estate Planning, written three-and-a-half years ago, focuses on practical issues. One practical issue no one should ignore: selecting the right bank to hold your money.

The Big Four

The four largest banks in America are Chase, Bank of America, Wells Fargo, and Citibank. How big are they? Chase holds total assets of $2,530,000,000,000. That’s trillion! The 15th largest bank in America, HSBC, has assets which equal 8% of Chase’s asset base.

So what? Big bothers me not at all, if the bank services its customers. Unfortunately, not so much with the Big Four in my workaday world.

Bad

Bank of America, Chase Bank, Citibank, Wells Fargo Bank

Law

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Merit Selection and Retention: Justices Clint Bolick and John Pelander

October 14, 2018

Mark Rubin

Merit Selection and Retention: Justices Clint Bolick and John Pelander

I attended a political fundraiser recently. Great candidates. Cool company. And, after, martinis at the Inn.

Only one exchange marred the evening: during the Q and A, a woman I don’t know raised the subject of retaining Arizona Supreme Court justices. I’ll get back to the exchange momentarily, but I need to provide some background first.

Arizona law provides for merit selection of the seven members of the Arizona Supreme Court, judges on the Arizona Court of Appeals, and trial court judges in counties with more than 250,000 residents. (Counties with less people can opt in, too.) Merit selection involves committees of lawyers and lay people who, through a

Governor Doug Ducey, Justice Clint Bolick, Justice John Pelander, merit selection of judges

Law

Corporate America Run Amok

October 11, 2018

Mark Rubin

Corporate America Run Amok

Mark Rubin

[Note: Working on a project—stay tuned—I ran across this piece, first posted on October 9, 2008 on a blog site which morphed into Mark Rubin Writes. Nothing much has changed in corporate America in the past 10 years, but we might notice the problems less, what with having a pseudo-populist POTUS who steals the air out of every room he enters.]

I wrote this essay in the summer of 2007, when corporate greed seemed like not much more than an irritant. Now, knowing what we know about the recklessness on Wall Street that went hand-in-hand with the greed, and now that we know the greed involved truly unfathomable sums of money, the essay seems

The Rest of Everything

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Kavanaugh: Final Thoughts!

October 6, 2018

Mark Rubin

Kavanaugh: Final Thoughts!

Kavanaugh

Justice Brett Kavanaugh

It’s over! Thirty-three days ago, I wrote Justice Brett Kavanaugh. Lots of noise since then, but we now have a full complement on the Court, including Justice Brett Kavanaugh.

Party Rules

Voting matters, majorities matter, and politicians vote party first. Only Senators Joe Manchin (D – W. Va.) and Lisa Murkowski (R – Alaska) crossed on the Kavanaugh vote, and both did so for seemingly different reasons.

Senator Manchin represents the most pro-Trump state and he’s running for re-election. As for Senator Murkowski, she runs again in 2022. Alaska likes Rs, but it likes Murkowskis too. Senator Murkowski’s father Frank served as Senator and Governor. The current Senator Murkowski won re-election

Central Park Five, Christine Blasey Ford, Judge Brett Kavanaugh, Judge Merrick Garland, President Donald Trump, Senator Jeff Flake, Senator Joe Manchin, Senator Lisa Murkowski, Senator Mitch McConnell, Senator Susan Collins

Law, The Rest of Everything

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Still More on L’affaire Kavanaugh

September 29, 2018

Mark Rubin

Still More on L’affaire Kavanaugh

Brett Kavanaugh

From There to Thursday / Friday

President Donald Trump and 11 angry white men who comprise the majority of the Senate Judiciary Committee. What a crew!

They got their guy right up to the finish line by mid-day on September 28, after an 80-day span from nomination to committee vote. Then, they sounded like stuck pigs because the Ds had the temerity to be unhappy after they got their one-day hearing. You’d have thought the Ds destroyed the confirmation process as we know it, to listen to Senator Lindsey Graham (R – S.C.) (No, we never liked him, even though he hung around with Senator John McCain (R – Ariz.), who we liked

Brett Kavanaugh, Christine Blasey Ford, President Donald Trump, Senator Amy Klobuchar, Senator Dianne Feinstein, Senator Lindsey Graham

The Rest of Everything

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The Kavanaugh Affair, Again

September 27, 2018

Mark Rubin

The Kavanaugh Affair, Again

Brett Kavanaugh

The Testimony

Well, that happened. Ugly, but at least I won’t read any more comments about how the *** won’t even show. (Right Winger foul language about women leaves me cold.) She showed up. She spoke. And for no personal or political gain.

As my day played out, I heard more from Brett Kavanaugh. No one should vote for this man to serve on any court, based on his performance. Sure, he was under pressure and felt attacked. Still, he—a sitting judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia—sounded and acted like a thug. He interrupted senators. He offered snarky responses. Rude and surly.

Of course, President Donald Trump

Brett Kavanaugh, Christine Blasey Ford, Julie Swetnick, Michael Avenatti, President Donald Trump

The Rest of Everything

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The Kavanaugh Affair

September 20, 2018

Mark Rubin

The Kavanaugh Affair

Brett Kavanaugh

I posted Justice Brent Kavanaugh on September 3. I anticipated none of what has kept bloggers and journalists—those who uncover facts and share them, so that bloggers like me can repackage them—busy during the last several days. (Had I foreseen any of it, I’d have made some real money at predictit.org.) Still, I see nothing which gives me a reason to think I got the expected outcome wrong 2+ weeks ago.

The Rs are rallying ‘round. Senator Lindsay Graham (S.C.) calls the assault allegation report a “drive-by shooting.” A request by Christine Blasey Ford for an FBI investigation before she testifies prompted Senator Susan Collins (Maine) to call such a demand

Brett Kavanaugh, Christine Blasey Ford, Ed Whelan, Governor MItt Romney, Josh Marshall, Kate Zernike, Senator John Cornyn, Senator Lindsay Graham, Senator Susan Collins, Talking Points Memo

The Rest of Everything

Justice Brett Kavanaugh

September 3, 2018

Mark Rubin

Justice Judge Brett Kavanaugh

Brett Kavanaugh

The Senate Judiciary Committee begins its hearings on the Supreme Court nomination of Justice Judge Brett Kavanaugh on Tuesday, September 4. Here’s the schedule, not that anything about the process will affect the outcome.

Judge Kavanaugh sits presently on the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. He has served on that court for a dozen years. Prior to his appointment he did the private / public shuffle, working for Ken Starr on the Clinton Whitewater (Lewinski) case, the Bush II White House, and for Kirkland & Ellis.

Judge Kavanaugh meets the legal requirements for service on the Supreme Court. He’s a sentient being, and

Brett Kavanaugh, democracy, Democrats, Merrick Garland, Neil Gorsuch, president barack obama, President Donald Trump, Senator John McCain, Senator Mitch McConnell

Law, The Rest of Everything

Road Trip

August 28, 2018

Mark Rubin

Road Trip

Mark Rubin

A road trip awaits me, soon. A few things must line up, and I’m ever hopeful that they will.

Alignments bring to mind the Age of Aquarius and Hair. (Younger readers: You had to be there, truly, but people took their clothes off on stage.) Unfortunately, I don’t know when the Moon will be in the Seventh House. (Seventh House?) And Jupiter and Mars? This man waits for no planetary alignments. Alignment for me means a week or so with no court appearances, no other obligations, and an available sitter for Max.

Max and My Shoe

And the trip? I’m headed due east, to the Deep South. I want to understand, as well as

Atlanta, Barack Obama, Birmingham, Greg Iles, Jackson, Little Rock, Memphis, Montgomery, Natchez, New Orleans, Penn Cage, road trip, Selma, Ta-Nehisi Coates

The Rest of Everything

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Tough Weekend

August 26, 2018

Mark Rubin

Tough Weekend

Tough weekend. I’m focused on Brush and Bulky, cleaning my house for the arrival of my daughter, and worrying about how to help LB fix her tortoise enclosure, so Robin the tortoise won’t suffer when we get much needed rain. (“I have an engineering problem,” says she. Right, I’m thinking, and you called … me?)

On my side, workwise, there are still post-trial issues which require attention. And plenty of clients who, rightfully, want their matters attended to. None of which, including the personal matters, accounts for the tough weekend.