Desantis seeks to punish Disney for disagreeing with him

I don't think DeSantis should go after Disney for their political stances, because it is wrong. Even setting that aside, Florida benefits hugely from Disney parks being situated there. He is cutting off his nose to spite his face. Evil AND stupid.

 

As a small government conservative though how do you feel about giving Disney special treatment to begin with?

Should government's give these type of set asides to corportations?

 

DeSantis does this well. It was not well known Disney has its own special district. And its a valid question that any anti-big business person should ask.

That said, he is doing something that most Republicans suck at. Over promising and under delivering.

 

I think there's a question here of whether it's really special treatment. All over the country, states (especially Texas) and municipalities give tax incentives for companies to relocate to their states. I don't think any of that should exist. But at least in this case, Disney has ongoing responsibilities to maintain all the utilities/etc. From what I've read so far (admittedly little), it seems like getting rid of this is going to cost taxpayers a ton of money - which means right now, Disney is covering those costs (in exchange for freedom to manage them on its own).

 

https://www.cnbc.com/2022/04/21/dis...-face-a-1-billion-debt-bomb-if-dissolved.html

To fund the government services of Reedy Creek, Disney effectively taxes itself. While the precise tax flows of Reedy Creek are unclear, Scott Randolph, the tax collector for Orange County, said the Reedy Creek district collects roughly $105 million annually in general revenue.

On top of the $105 million, Disney also pays local property taxes. Public records show Disney is the largest taxpayer in central Florida, paying over $280 million in property taxes to the counties between 2015 and 2020.

If the special district is dissolved, Orange and Osceola counties would have to provide the local services currently provided by Reedy Creek. And, the $105 million in revenue would disappear, meaning county and local taxpayers would be on the hook for part or all of the added costs.

“If you dissolved Reedy Creek, that $105 million in revenue literally goes away, it doesn’t get transferred,” Randolph said.

...

Reedy Creek has bond liabilities of between $1 billion and $1.7 billion, according to the district’s financial filings. Under Florida statute, if Reedy Creek is dissolved, those liabilities are transferred to the local governments — either Bay Lake or Lake Buena Vista, or more likely, Orange and Osceola counties.

State Senate Minority Leader Gary Farmer, D-Fort Lauderdale, tried to amend the bill to include further study of the bond debt, but the amendment failed on a voice vote.

Farmer said the bond debt could total more than $2 billion and that tax authorities are increasing their estimates as they learn more about Reedy Creek’s outstanding liabilities.

“This is a very real impact, the extent of which we don’t fully understand yet,” Farmer said.

If the liabilities of $1.7 billion or more are transferred to Orange and Osceola counties, he said, the debt could amount to $1,000 per taxpayer.

“If the counties are left holding the bag, the state might have to come to their aid,” Farmer said. “So it’s not even just a tax issue for these two counties. It affects every taxpayer in the state of Florida.”

 

A very putin-esque type of move by Desantis.

 

I would imagine there was a bargained for contract between the state and Disney, whereby each side has certain rights and duties. I only wish all government relations could be arranged in such a manner. I would certainly have a much different relationship with the US government than I have now.

 

https://www.wsj.com/articles/revolt...ntis-bob-chapek-11650578648?mod=hp_opin_pos_1

Revolt in Disney’s Florida Kingdom
Its alienating push into Florida politics is a warning for other CEOs.
By The Editorial Board
April 21, 2022 6:43 pm ET

The Walt Disney Co. needs Florida more than Florida needs Walt Disney. That’s the latest chapter in this tale of a CEO who followed his woke staff like a lemming off the cliff of cultural politics. Disney employees demanded that Mickey Mouse oppose Florida’s misdescribed “don’t say gay” bill. Now state lawmakers are reacting by putting down a few glue traps.

***
The Florida Legislature voted this week to abolish the Reedy Creek Improvement District, which in effect lets Disney World run its own private government. Created by the Legislature in 1967, the district covers about 40 square miles and features two water parks and four theme parks, including the Magic Kingdom. Disney essentially controls land use, environmental protection, fire service, utilities, more than 100 miles of roads, and more.

Gov. Ron DeSantis is expected to sign the bill. The Journal cites a source who knows Disney’s finances and says the district saves the company tens of millions of dollars a year. Without it, services like fixing potholes could revert to county government.

Disney largely funds the Reedy Creek district, which had about $150 million in revenue last year. It also carries close to $1 billion in debt. The mayor of Orange County warned Thursdaythat if the district goes, then upkeep will “fall to the county’s budgets,” putting “an undue burden on the rest of the taxpayers.” The headaches look large enough that it’s difficult not to wonder about the bill’s effective date. It dissolves the Reedy Creek district on June 1, 2023—time for Disney and Mr. DeSantis to make up.

Are Florida Republicans engaged in unfair political retaliation? “As a matter of first principle,” Mr. DeSantis said last month, “I don’t support special privileges in law, just because a company is powerful.” Live by the corporate carve-out, die by the corporate carve-out. As a matter of political realism, the Reedy Creek district is a perk the state gave Disney. The mystery is why Disney thought it could push around state lawmakers without any pushback.

One answer is that previous corporate political signaling came with little cost and media hosannas. Recall when Major League Baseball pulled its All-Star Game out of Atlanta, as a punishment for Georgia’s new voting law. “Fair access to voting continues to have our game’s unwavering support,” Commissioner Rob Manfred said. The voting law “does not match Delta’s values,” fretted CEO Ed Bastian.

Did they read the bill? Or did they trust President Biden, who called it “Jim Crow 2.0”? Voting absentee in Georgia is still easier than in New York or Delaware.

The political frenzy in Florida began with a similar dynamic. Early versions of the state’s controversial bill were broader, but here’s the key line in the law that passed: “Classroom instruction by school personnel or third parties on sexual orientation or gender identity may not occur in kindergarten through grade 3 or in a manner that is not age-appropriate.” That language belies the claim that kids with gay siblings or two moms couldn’t talk openly about their families.

At first CEO Bob Chapek told employees that Disney would take no position. “As we have seen time and again, corporate statements do very little to change outcomes or minds,” he wrote. “Instead, they are often weaponized by one side or the other to further divide and inflame.” But inspired by an earlier tweet from former CEO Bob Iger, Disney employees went into open rebellion. Soon Mr. Chapek was groveling to his underlings and calling Florida’s bill a “challenge to basic human rights.”

Perhaps he thought this would be a free way to mollify his staff, but Mr. Chapek misjudged the political moment. Republican voters who have watched companies side with the progressive agenda and silence employees who disagree are fed up. Mr. Chapek was right the first time: Disney’s political foray didn’t stop the Florida law. But it made a lot of people mad, including Disney customers and state lawmakers.

***
There’s a warning here to other companies, especially Big Tech and Wall Street, which are mainly based in liberal states but conduct business everywhere. If they try to impose their cultural values, they risk losing Republican allies on the policy issues that matter most to their bottom lines, such as regulation, trade, taxation, antitrust and labor law. Polls show rising GOP hostility to big business, and that is likely to be reflected when Republicans take power.

If good tax policy can’t pass Congress because Republican voters are furious about cultural imperialism from the C-suite, that’s bad for the country. It’s also bad for business. The Disney lesson for CEOs is to stay out of these divisive cultural fights. The lesson for political partisans in the workplace is that their bosses run the office, but they don’t run the country.

Appeared in the April 22, 2022, print edition.

​

 

I’m personally uneasy with it especially that Disney has its own PD. Just curious wha Ty our opinion is.

 

I’m sure there are a lot of benefits to both sides from the arrangement and am well aware that such arrangements are made. That doesn’t mean I’m not uneasy about it. As I said earlier in this thread this strikes me as a modern day Pullman, IL where the Pullman corporation controlled much of that town including law enforcement.

 

I think it is good that there is a voluntary agreement between Florida and Disney for what rights and responsibilities each side has. I think it is good for Floridians to have Disneyworld and the surrounding parks there instead of some other state because it brings in billions of dollars to the economy each year (to my understanding). I prefer privatization of that which can reasonably be privatized, so if Disney is willing to take responsibility for the security, sanitation, healthcare, etc. in their area, that seems like a good thing to me. If people were somehow trapped living in the Disney Control Zone, unable to leave, I would take issue with it, but I don't think that is the case. Overall it seems like a pretty good deal for everyone. The more decentralized power becomes, the less it can easily become tyrannical, and over the fewest people.

 

I hate Florida AND Disney.

Both are trash.

I hope they both kill each other.

 

I don't know whether it's good or bad or whatever w.r.t the FL and Disney arrangement. But whatever that is, it's absolutely bad for politicians to punish private companies for their speech.

So much for the principle of free speech. As soon as the gov is taking positions you like, you give it up.

 

The cost of supporting DeSantis style governing.

 

As said I'm sure there is a lot of benefits to each side for the arrangement. The history of "company towns" hasn't always been that good and especially where law enforcement, and not just criminal law but things like code enforcement, is beholden to private corporations that may have a conflict of interests when it comes to enforcement.

For example would a code inspector employed by Disney to enforce building codes be more willing consider Disney's interests in approving a new project by Disney or the overall public's interests? Or if a Disney executive accused of a crime within that district how likely is LE that is employed by Disney willing to investigate and prosecute knowing that their livelihood depends on the corporation.

 

People on this thread except us smart people
Forgot to ask who leaked out these videos of the executives and why Disney said stuff about the Florida law.
If they aren’t aware , their stock price is going down and they should be worried since their dumb galactic hotel is bombing
If obiwan sucks they will lose subscribers
Netflix got hit
Disney Is going to drop like
That if they don’t turn the corner. The person who dropped these woke videos are trying to save the company from realizing what is going with the direction of their content

 

Ron DeSantis' governing strategy in Florida is paying off

https://www.cnn.com/2022/04/21/politics/florida-governor-desantis-poll-numbers/index.html

 

Yes, something working politically is completely different than something that is working in terms of morality and whether it benefits society.

DeSantis is a wedge issue master and knows how to feed that red meat in a much more eloquent way than Trump at the very least.

 

The media learned absolutely NOTHING from Trump in 2016. I mean not a damn thing. I've seen so much "this is a win for DeSantis" takes the past 48 hours all because DeSantis did something outrageous enough to get THEIR ATTENTION and therefore because he got THEIR ATTENTION and got them to write articles on him.... "HE WON."

Meanwhile in Florida DeSantis just raised the taxes of Floridians, and destroyed First Amendment Rights all over a bill that isn't even popular in Florida. DeSantis did something that was bad politics in every way you could possibly be measured, but because he got THEIR ATTENTION.... ITS A WIN!!! and DeSantis will get more glowing FoxNews coverage and because of the media coverage he'll be a more viable 2024 candidate.... regardless of the fact that he's now LESS likely to win even re-election as Governor of Florida.

Anytime someone like you comes back around and says that CNN works for the Dems or something stupid like that, I'm coming back to THIS article, and their "ITS A WIN because we are covering it!!!" coverage.

 

What do you expect the media to do? They are all for profit.

I certainly agree conservatives are much more Machiavellian and know how to cause outrage better.