In addition to a great number of investments, Ruth Bader Ginsburg has zero debt. The sheer number of her investments gives you an idea of what one of these forms might look like for someone who has spent a lifetime responsibly building wealth (in contrast, Matthew Whitaker had 13 entries on his latest financial disclosure forms that were arguably comparable categorically, although decidedly not comparable qualitatively Brett Kavanaugh had six). Dissecting all of those would take a while. Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s latest financial disclosure form, dated May 15, 2018, has 103 entries under the investments and trusts category. If you want a truly deep dig into RBG’s personal finances, you better get Ronan Farrow on the line or offer me a six-month sabbatical from my law practice.
While we may not always fully understand these incentives, we can at least discuss them intelligently. In the words of Stephen Colbert, “reality has a well-known liberal bias.” But I do think that the financial incentives bearing down on the decision-making processes of those in power, Republican or Democrat, are important. I’m not at all pretending to be completely unbiased in this column. But it’s fair enough to point out that so far, I’ve taken a look at the personal finances of one Republican acting Attorney General, and one Supreme Court nominee chosen by a Republican president. I’m not sure that looking into the finances of some grandma who hasn’t held any public office in more than five years and who hasn’t run for any public office in more than two years advances what I’m doing here. Part of the email I received included, and I quote, “hat about Hillary….” Well… this column is about the intersection of finance and the law, often viewed through the lens of relevant current events. Still, I’m open to constructive criticism. I know, right? I was surprised too that Matthew Whitaker’s open scammery was the rhetorical hill someone chose to die on. I got some hate mail about my article on Matt Whitaker’s financial disclosures. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg (Screenshot via Columbia)