Desantis seeks to punish Disney for disagreeing with him

How is this similar at all to Citizens United?

 

a friend of mine tells the story of her two kids bickering and fighting over a container of tic tacs in the back seat of the car. This goes on for several minutes until she gets frustrated and yells at the kids to stop fighting over the tic tacs.

The older daughter, maybe 8 or 9 years old at that time, intelligent and perspicuous beyond her years, yells back, "It's not about the tic tacs, Mom!"

which has become kind of a metaphor over the years both for her family and for my family.

When it comes to the Florida thing, I just have to believe it's not about the tic tacs.

 

1st amendment is for people, not corporations. This free speech nonsense is dumb.

 

Sorry, that is not correct, the Citizen's United ruling is that corporations have the SAME rights as people.

We agree it is crazy, but that is the law right now.

Must be tough to have to bounce back and forth based upon issues as a GOP supporter.

Pretty hypocritical

DD

 

Lol !
are they going to turn T-mac’s house into the it’s a small world ride ?

 

The rights given to them were In the 60s
By the state of Florida
So Florida can take that away from Disney

Disney was way better in the 80s and 90s anyways

remember Captain EO? What an amazing attraction that was ahead of its time

 

Lol wut? Are there Mickey Mouse political ads I’m not aware of?

 

like I said, I don't see this Florida issue as either a free speech or a censorship issue.

Disney spoke out against a law it disagreed with. Companies do this all the time. The state has responded by acting in a way that is detrimental to that company (or at least that's what some think; others think the state's action is going to hurt Floridians more than it will hurt Disney). States do this all the time (cf. AOC and the Amazon NYC HQ).

So I see this issue as basic politics. Sorry, but that's how I see it.

 

This is about Desantis punishing a corporation for taking a stance on a political issue.

Citizens United is a campaign finance issue where corporations are allowed to count as people when it comes to donating to politicians.

I just don't see how these are the same thing.

 

I don't know enough about RCID to have a solid stand. I dont think DeSantis should be taking it away until I know the pros and cons.

That said, I dont really care either way. Nothing hypocritical about that. Im not the one who says United Citizens is wrong and then b****ing about Disneys free speech.

 

Corporations are not people. They are not protected by the 1st amendment.

 

oh I can entertain it, sure. And I have been, patiently, at least for the last several hours. I just don't think it's a free speech issue.

related:

Florida Gov. DeSantis Signs Bill Stripping Disney of Special Tax Status
Republican calls theme park owner’s opposition to new law limiting teaching on gender and sexuality ‘a provocation’

https://www.wsj.com/articles/florida-gov-desantis-signs-bill-stripping-disney-of-special-tax-status-11650657186

excerpt:

The revoking of Disney’s tax privileges comes as the company is expanding its presence in the state. Last summer, the company told roughly 2,000 workers in its Southern California offices their positions were relocating to the state. As part of the deal, Disney is expected to receive about $570 million in tax breaks over 20 years.
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more at the link

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Are you kidding?

He took it away, without analyzing the impact.

Right now, Disney gets to save $163m per year on taxes, which have to be now paid by the people who LIVE in that area, and to do that they face a 25% increase in taxes to cover it.

He did not think it through, this is typical him, all speaking point, no actual analysis about what will happen or who has to pay for it.

DD

 

They essentially operate as their own city. so, they pay for their own services, plus they pay over 160 million inproperty tax every year.

Those services will now have to be provided by the city/county. Plus the taxpayers may also have to fund the bonds.

Desantis is cutting off his nose to spite his face.

 

Corporation has limited free speech. They shouldn't be able to have an unlimited contribution to any candidate or political party. There is no table-turning here. The confusion is thinking there is no limit to speech and that dark contribution is speech.

 

isnt it entirely performative? Desantis, like trump, makes a bold but meaningless declaration. Based on what little I have read, there is close to zero chance it will actually be approved.

 

According to this article and others, Disney loses control to quickly make changes (new buildings, fix roads, etc) they want (they now have to go to the gov), get a $163 per year tax break, and is off the hook for $1B in debt (get transferred to the taxpayer). Not a bad deal for Disney.

The local? Somehow, someway, they have to make up for the $163 per year deficit and the $1B in debt passed to them.

These politicians are going to have to scrap this soon or find a way to pay for this... perhaps they should just levy a new tax on any businesses that voice their values against discriminations.

End of Reedy Creek: Disney won’t pay more taxes, but you will
https://www.wftv.com/news/local/end...re-taxes-you-will/3TK6ASNJT5EXHICW3DQ3ZHEZYA/

By Nick Papantonis, WFTV.com
April 21, 2022 at 11:24 pm EDT

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — One of the biggest myths circulating on the internet is that the end of Reedy Creek will finally force Disney to pay its fair share of taxes, boosting the economies of Florida and the counties its resorts are located in.

Let’s dispel that rumor right now: not only is it wrong, it’s the opposite that will take effect.

This much is true: the Reedy Creek Improvement District is an extension of Disney that shields the company from oversight others have. The theme park operator taxes itself and gives itself permission to build whatever, wherever so long as it follows building codes and other state and federal laws.

What Reedy Creek isn’t is a replacement for the counties it exists in. Disney still pays the same property taxes levied by the government and the school district that every other landowner pays. Orange County, for example, collected $40 million from the House of Mouse in 2021, Tax Collector Scott Randolph (D) said.

So, how does Reedy Creek operate its own fire and sewer departments? The special tax district status allows Disney to levy an additional tax on itself to pay for those services. The tax, amounting to $105 million per year, is illegal anywhere else in the county, along with the additional $58 million per year the company taxes itself to pay off Reedy Creek’s bond debt.

When the district is dismantled on June 1, 2023, Orange County will begin paying for those services and paying off the debt, without that special status in place.

“The moment that Reedy Creek doesn’t exist is the moment that that those taxes don’t exist,” Randolph said. “Orange County can’t just slap a new taxing district onto that area and recoup the money that was lost.”

Effectively, Disney’s loss of control also hands it a $163 million per year tax break. If the entire state of Florida was responsible for covering the hole, each taxpayer would have to cough up roughly $7.50.

However, this burden will not be shared equally. Despite zero debate or public comment, and the near-total opposition of Central Florida’s delegation to this maneuver, Orange and Osceola County taxpayers will shoulder the hit alone, leaving both counties staring at financial ruin.

Salvaging the budgets won’t be pretty. State law prevents the counties from raising sales taxes or impact fees to cover the costs. They also must tax all areas of the county equally, meaning whatever they enact must apply to everyone.

That leaves one avenue: property taxes, of which Orange County collects approximately $600 million per year right now.

“I don’t see how Orange County doesn’t raise property taxes by 20% to 25%,” Randolph said. “That’s what [the county] would probably have to do to cover this financial situation.”

Normally, such a move would be a political poison pill in an election year and go against the typical Republican promise to never raise taxes.

Most people expect the legislature to backtrack on their plans in January, paring down some of Disney’s unnecessary powers while maintaining Reedy Creek’s taxing abilities, which would solve legitimately held complaints about the district’s broad abilities while preventing the worst effects of this past week.

However, Randolph said some damage was already done. For one, county and Disney staff will spend the next nine months or more meeting to discuss how to dissolve the district and transfer responsibility to the counties.

The second effect: making businesses think twice about moving jobs to Florida, knowing the state could change the rules overnight if an executive has a different opinion than a politician.

“They’re dissolving something the size of the city of Orlando in 72 hours,” Randolph said. “This is not the way to run a state.”