Muda69 Posted April 20, 2022 Share Posted April 20, 2022 https://reason.com/2022/04/19/desantis-calls-for-end-of-walt-disney-worlds-self-rule/ Quote Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announced today that he wants the state Legislature to revoke the 50-year-old law that grants Walt Disney World Resort the authority to govern itself. The Reedy Creek Improvement District, established in 1967, grants Disney the legal authority over and responsibility for 25,000 acres of land in Orange and Osceola counties. This includes planning and zoning authorities, as well as the responsibility to provide police, fire, and utilities in the area. DeSantis is now in the midst of a political feud with the Disney corporation, whose leaders have spoken out in objection to the passage of Florida's so-called "Don't Say Gay" bill, which limits and even censors discussion of sexual orientation and gender identity in public schools. At the same time, DeSantis and conservative Florida lawmakers have been feuding with social media platforms, which they believe are unfairly deplatforming conservative voices. They responded with a profoundly unconstitutional bill that would prohibit large social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook from deplatforming political candidates. At the last minute, these lawmakers included a special carve-out exempting any company that owns a theme park in Florida from these rules. That includes Disney, which also happens to be a massive media company with many online platforms that would otherwise be covered. When this bill was challenged in federal court, U.S. District Judge Robert L. Hinkle agreed with the plaintiffs that the bill enforces content-based discrimination that violates the First Amendment rights of the tech companies and is pre-empted by federal law. Hinkle put an injunction in place stopping the law from being enforced. In the order, Hinkle takes note of the theme park exception as evidence of its discriminatory enforcement. The judge also noted many constitutional flaws with the bill besides the carve-out. Nevertheless, in his proclamation calling for this special session to go after Disney, DeSantis suggests that the carve-out is the only problem found with the law and is severable from the underlying legislation. The proclamation notes, "[T]he Legislature should make clear that Florida intends to continue to protect consumers from the arbitrary and inconsistent censorship of social media platforms in a viewpoint-neutral manner…." By calling for the revocation of the Reedy Creek Improvement District while making note of the special exemption that the Republicans themselves gave Disney in the first place, DeSantis leans into using his office in an overt attempt to punish political opponents in the private sphere. It may be good for culture war politicking, but one does have to consider whether Orange and Osceola counties are even interested in taking responsibility for providing mandatory public services to the massive Disney resort empire. Disney is the biggest employer within the two counties and most certainly their largest source of tangential and indirect tax revenue through tourism. Right now Disney—through Reedy Creek—actually contracts with the Orange County Sheriff's Office for millions each year ($15.8 million to outside law enforcement agencies in FY 2017) for protection. That's a benefit to the counties that could end up becoming an expense. It's a bit simplistic to think that giving Walt Disney World Resort the power of self-rule is some sort of gift or privilege. That the park, given self-governance, has managed to maintain itself as a generally safe and stable environment that people flock to from across the world is a pretty good indication that the company knows what it's doing. Any contention that DeSantis is eliminating some sort of "special treatment" for Disney comes with it the perhaps mistaken assumption that the two counties suddenly in charge of all of this infrastructure will somehow make the park better and not worse. In reality, putting Disney parks at the mercy of two different counties with different laws will be a huge mess for everybody involved, and that's the point. It's not about what's fair or what's best for the citizens in the area. It's about punishing political foes and centralizing government power (a very nonconservative approach) to do so. Good luck to Mr. DeSantis is trying to get this legislation passed. It won't work. And while I find the news that Disney has been pushing pro-LGBT messaging into various children's media products for years abhorrent that doesn't mean parents are being forced to have their children consume Disney products and services. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bobref Posted April 20, 2022 Share Posted April 20, 2022 You don’t mess with the Mouse! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DE Posted April 20, 2022 Share Posted April 20, 2022 (edited) 1 hour ago, Bobref said: You don’t mess with the Mouse! He just did. FAAFO. 2 hours ago, Muda69 said: https://reason.com/2022/04/19/desantis-calls-for-end-of-walt-disney-worlds-self-rule/ Good luck to Mr. DeSantis is trying to get this legislation passed. It won't work. And while I find the news that Disney has been pushing pro-LGBT messaging into various children's media products for years abhorrent that doesn't mean parents are being forced to have their children consume Disney products and services. Maybe not, but at least he has the balls to make his stance known. Edited April 20, 2022 by DE Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DE Posted April 20, 2022 Share Posted April 20, 2022 Florida Senate, on a 23-16 vote, just passed legislation ending Disney's tax privilege, self-governing power and special exemption status. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muda69 Posted April 20, 2022 Author Share Posted April 20, 2022 (edited) 26 minutes ago, DE said: Florida Senate, on a 23-16 vote, just passed legislation ending Disney's tax privilege, self-governing power and special exemption status. Look for the Mouse to take this all the way to at least the Florida Supreme Court. So does this mean the Orange and Osceola county governments now have to take over the functions and services that the Reedy Creek Improvement District has been providing for the last 50 years? That should be a smooth and seamless transition......................... Edited April 20, 2022 by Muda69 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swordfish Posted April 20, 2022 Share Posted April 20, 2022 5 hours ago, Muda69 said: https://reason.com/2022/04/19/desantis-calls-for-end-of-walt-disney-worlds-self-rule/ Good luck to Mr. DeSantis is trying to get this legislation passed. It won't work. And while I find the news that Disney has been pushing pro-LGBT messaging into various children's media products for years abhorrent that doesn't mean parents are being forced to have their children consume Disney products and services. From your March 21 post in the political correctness thread relative to the Disney controversy....I think the Florida Governor feels the same way...... Trying to stop activists and woke capitalists from queering little children through the schools is a fight worth having. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DE Posted April 20, 2022 Share Posted April 20, 2022 35 minutes ago, Muda69 said: Look for the Mouse to take this all the way to at least the Florida Supreme Court. So does this mean the Orange and Osceola county governments now have to take over the functions and services that the Reedy Creek Improvement District has been providing for the last 50 years? That should be a smooth and seamless transition......................... Don't know. 29 minutes ago, swordfish said: From your March 21 post in the political correctness thread relative to the Disney controversy....I think the Florida Governor feels the same way...... Trying to stop activists and woke capitalists from queering little children through the schools is a fight worth having. Groomers need to GTFO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bobref Posted April 20, 2022 Share Posted April 20, 2022 4 hours ago, DE said: Maybe not, but at least he has the balls to make his stance known. Translation: He panders to ultra conservatives. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DE Posted April 20, 2022 Share Posted April 20, 2022 1 hour ago, Bobref said: Translation: He panders to ultra conservatives. Translation: He doesn’t give a 💩 what you think. Don’t like it, don’t go to Florida. We won’t mind. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bobref Posted April 21, 2022 Share Posted April 21, 2022 19 hours ago, DE said: Translation: He doesn’t give a 💩 what you think. Don’t like it, don’t go to Florida. We won’t mind. Well he better start paying attention to somebody, because he’s down about 13 pts. in the polls to Crist, in what was a close race 4 yrs. ago. I was unaware there were that many intelligent people in Florida. Methinks this attempt at pandering was in the nature of a “Hail Mary” right before halftime. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DE Posted April 21, 2022 Share Posted April 21, 2022 6 minutes ago, Bobref said: Well he better start paying attention to somebody, because he’s down about 13 pts. in the polls to Crist, in what was a close race 4 yrs. ago. I was unaware there were that many intelligent people in Florida. Methinks this attempt at pandering was in the nature of a “Hail Mary” right before halftime. Tell me you are clueless without telling me you are clueless. See ya Bob. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swordfish Posted April 21, 2022 Share Posted April 21, 2022 (edited) 3 hours ago, Bobref said: Well he better start paying attention to somebody, because he’s down about 13 pts. in the polls to Crist, in what was a close race 4 yrs. ago. I was unaware there were that many intelligent people in Florida. Methinks this attempt at pandering was in the nature of a “Hail Mary” right before halftime. You sure about that BR? Crist is favored to win the Democrat primary and has the highest poling against Desantis among the other Dems, but Desantis is still up by an average of 8.8, with one poll having him up by a whopping 21 according to RCP.....See for yourself: https://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2022/governor/Florida.html Apparently there more intelligent people in Florida than you are aware of....... Edited April 21, 2022 by swordfish 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DE Posted April 22, 2022 Share Posted April 22, 2022 5 hours ago, swordfish said: You sure about that BR? Crist is favored to win the Democrat primary and has the highest poling against Desantis among the other Dems, but Desantis is still up by an average of 8.8, with one poll having him up by a whopping 21 according to RCP.....See for yourself: https://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2022/governor/Florida.html Apparently there more intelligent people in Florida than you are aware of....... As I stated earlier. Clueless. Dude must get his news from CNN+. Oops. Not any longer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert Posted April 22, 2022 Share Posted April 22, 2022 On 4/20/2022 at 1:55 PM, Muda69 said: Look for the Mouse to take this all the way to at least the Florida Supreme Court. So does this mean the Orange and Osceola county governments now have to take over the functions and services that the Reedy Creek Improvement District has been providing for the last 50 years? That should be a smooth and seamless transition......................... That will be interesting...and at what cost and who bears that cost? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DE Posted April 22, 2022 Share Posted April 22, 2022 Just now, Robert said: That will be interesting...and at what cost and who bears that cost? Maybe this is part of why Disney is under attack. But hey. You all keep doing you. Glad I’m on the right side of history. Hope my facts don’t get “Zuckerberged”/“Dorseyed”. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swordfish Posted April 25, 2022 Share Posted April 25, 2022 Watching liberals have a hissy fit over one of the richest companies in the world having to pay 'their fare share' of taxes for the first time since 1967, and actually using loud outbursts to disrupt the vote was surreal and epic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bobref Posted April 25, 2022 Share Posted April 25, 2022 Right now my wife is at Disneyworld. She took her 90 yr. old mother and two grown sons there to reenact a vacation they took 20 years ago. It includes photos with Disney characters. Should I be concerned that she might get “turned” while down there? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swordfish Posted April 25, 2022 Share Posted April 25, 2022 2 minutes ago, Bobref said: Right now my wife is at Disneyworld. She took her 90 yr. old mother and two grown sons there to reenact a vacation they took 20 years ago. It includes photos with Disney characters. Should I be concerned that she might get “turned” while down there? I'm assuming they're old enough to be safe Bob....... In case you thought this move by DeSantis was solely about "Don't say Gay".......Here's an almost real dissection of the tax issue that has been brewing in FL long before the "Don't say Gay" debate....... Lloyd Blankfein, the former Goldman Sachs C.E.O., tweeted that Disney’s special tax status may not have been a good policy when it was first adopted, but DeSantis’s recent move looks like “retaliation” for the company’s stance on unrelated legislation. “Bad look for a conservative,” he said. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/21/business/dealbook/disney-florida-taxes.html Disney vs. Florida A debate over taxes is rapidly unraveling Florida’s long relationship with Disney, with broader implications for corporate America. By Andrew Ross Sorkin, Jason Karaian, Vivian Giang, Stephen Gandel, Lauren Hirsch, Ephrat Livni, Jenny Gross and Anna Schaverien Yesterday, the Florida Senate voted to revoke special benefits that, since the 1960s, have given Disney the ability to essentially self-govern a vast area around its Disney World theme park and issue tax-free municipal bonds. The state’s House, which like its Senate is led by Republicans, is expected to vote for the measure today. It’s a rapid unraveling of a long relationship. Last month, Disney C.E.O. Bob Chapek, facing a backlash from employees, spoke out against Florida’s so-called “Don’t Say Gay” law, which prohibits classroom discussion of sexual orientation and gender identity until the third grade, and limits it for older students as well. Gov. Ron DeSantis, who is eying a 2024 presidential run, has hit back, calling the company “Woke Disney,” and saying it no longer deserves its long-held special status. “If Disney wants to pick a fight, they chose the wrong guy,” DeSantis wrote in a recent campaign fund-raising email. This is about more than taxes, with broader implications for Disney, Florida and all of corporate America: For Disney: The company’s theme parks are flying, thanks to looser pandemic restrictions and higher-priced ticket sales. The loss of Disney’s special tax district could put a dent in that growth, and it would also restrict the company’s ability to develop the land it owns and tap state resources to do it. For Florida: The biggest issue is nearly $1 billion in tax-free bonds that have been issued by Disney. Florida law says that if a special tax district is dissolved, the responsibility to pay those bonds reverts to local governments. Democratic state lawmakers say that the interest on those bonds equates to an additional tax burden of $580 per person for the 1.7 million residents of neighboring Orange and Osceola counties, which would also have to step in and provide many of the public services for the area that are currently funded by the company. Disney employs about 80,000 people in Florida. For corporate America: Disney’s clash with Florida is the latest example of how companies’ growing willingness to speak out on social and political issues puts them in conflict with some lawmakers. Last year, Georgia politicians threatened to raise taxes on Delta after the airline spoke out against the state’s restrictive voting laws. More recently, Texas lawmakers have said they would bar Citigroup from underwriting the state’s bonds unless the bank revoked its policy to pay for employees to travel out of state for abortions, which are severely restricted there. “I don’t think this is going to stop companies that have a strong reputation and value system,” Paul Argenti, a professor at Dartmouth’s Tuck School of Business, told DealBook. “It’s a real test of what is the Disney value system and what they are willing to stand up for.” Lloyd Blankfein, the former Goldman Sachs C.E.O., tweeted that Disney’s special tax status may not have been a good policy when it was first adopted, but DeSantis’s recent move looks like “retaliation” for the company’s stance on unrelated legislation. “Bad look for a conservative,” he said. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DE Posted April 25, 2022 Share Posted April 25, 2022 3 hours ago, swordfish said: Watching liberals have a hissy fit over one of the richest companies in the world having to pay 'their fare share' of taxes for the first time since 1967, and actually using loud outbursts to disrupt the vote was surreal and epic. The left and far left, "Tax The Rich!" Now...."WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DE Posted April 25, 2022 Share Posted April 25, 2022 Wonder if Disney had any connection to Epstein and others? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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