Blog - Mark Rubin

My Weekend

September 30, 2023

My Weekend

Mark Rubin, Getting a Bit Personal

On Friday, September 22, 2023, I paid $51.71 to fill up my 2018 Toyota Rav4. Last gas purchase for me, for a vehicle I own or lease.

On Sunday, September 24, I walked out of Costco and saw a slick looking car. A Kia EV6, on display to promote the Costco auto purchase and lease program. Today, I have a new, red 2023 Kia EV6 parked in front of my house.

Kia EV6

*I borrowed an online photo, but mine looks just like this one.

My mind has engaged too actively on the car issue. The Rav4 I had got 20+ miles per gallon in the city and 30 or MPG on the highway.

Kia EV6, Slutes Sakrison & Rogers

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Dysfunctional Democracy

July 1, 2023

Mark Rubin

Dysfunctional Democracy

Mark Rubin

Our system broke down, somewhere along the way. I see a Nixon / Goldwater to Reagan to Trump lineage. I know Trump-a-phobes who see Trump as a one-off (and think the other Rs I mentioned served us well), and a significant minority of us think we need Trump to solve our problems.

Without doubt, our divisions weaken us. However, at the end of the day, we have an 18^th century system for a 21^st century world. A dysfunctional democracy, so to speak.

Many among us venerate the states, yet we expect our federal government to solve our problems. We like the notion of elected representatives to reign in POTUS, but we hold him or

Law, The Rest of Everything

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The U.S. Supreme Court and Ethics

June 22, 2023

Mark Rubin

The U.S. Supreme Court and Ethics

U.S. Supreme Court

The Ethics Watch: Update

Here’s the latest on the ethics front. Justice Samuel Alito took a trip with a billionaire to go fishing in Alaska. No disclosures. Then, he ruled on a case that involved one of the billionaire’s entities, and claims he lacked knowledge about the connection.

Why I’m Writing

I write because, a few months ago, Justice Alito told the Wall Street Journal he thought lawyers should defend the Court, in the face of criticism about the justices’ ethics. I found the comment amusing for its suggestion that nine justices need the legal profession to validate their acts.

Now, with the speaker’s acts, it’s time to speak up. As

Justice Clarence Thomas, Justice Samuel Alito, Paul Singer, U.S. Supreme Court

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Oh Baby Baby It’s a Wild World

June 9, 2023

Mark Rubin

Oh Baby Baby It’s a Wild World

Mark Rubin

[Note: I wrote this piece in February, and it got lost in a shuffle.]

With a nod to Cat Stevens aka Steven Demetre Georgiou (at the outset) and Yusuf Islam (now), Oh Baby Baby It’s a Wild World.

I encountered two real estate situations in the past 10 days. I can’t provide details about the first, due to confidentiality concerns. However, I urge everyone to interpret If You See Something, Say Something^® broadly. (Allen Kay created the tagline for the New York MTA.) Regarding the matter I can’t discuss, neighbors paying attention likely helped someone avoid a terrible outcome. Our lives touch vulnerable adults constantly and too many

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U.S.A v. Trump

June 9, 2023

Mark Rubin

U.S.A v. Trump

Donald J. Trump

A grand jury indicted Donald John Trump in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida. Let’s be clear about several thing, straightaway:

Everyone is presumptively innocent until a jury renders a guilty verdict.
The indictment and the evidence have not been shared by the government.
No one – in my humble opinion – should take pleasure about the fact of this indictment, but Mr. Trump created this situation completely. The indictment does not make our nation a banana republic. Bad acts deserve appropriate consequences!

People get prosecuted for taking classified documents. Former CIA Director and General David Petraeus. (Probation for 2 years and a $100,000 fine.) Sandy Berger,

Donald J. Trump

Law

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Disney Defeats DeSantis

April 2, 2023

Mark Rubin

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

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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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