Joe Biden spoke at a fundraiser on Thursday evening and gave his first reaction to Florida Republicans nuking Disney’s long-standing government largesse.
There have been many reactions to Disney’s decision, in which it lost its self-governing status along with numerous tax exemptions within the Sunshine State. Yet, the timing has even some on the right upset, claiming that it’s government retaliation against a private business. I’ve got some thought on that, but first, here’s what Biden had to say.
Luckily, there’s no audio or video that I can find, so you can save yourself at least some of the torture.
Biden condemns Florida GOP:
“There’s nothing conservative about deciding you’re going to throw Disney out of its present posture because, Mickey Mouse? In fact, you think we should not be able to say, you know, ‘gay’? I mean, what’s going on here?”
— Charlie Spiering (@charliespiering) April 22, 2022
As you can see, he’s as incoherent as ever, but that’s not really surprising. Biden is already senile. What we didn’t know is that he’s apparently a self-proclaimed expert on conservatism. You know, because if I want tips on conservative principles, Joe Biden is who I’m looking for to give me advice.
Putting aside the absurdity, I’m sick of this argument from both the right and left. Can anyone show me where in the big book of conservatism it is a “principle” that you must support a multi-national, multi-billion dollar company continuing to leech off taxpayers, even in the face of them working against your interests? By what metric does that “principle” rate higher than ending crony capitalism? Why is that “principle” considered higher than protecting children?
I’m not at all suggesting that someone can’t, in completely good faith, believe that what the Florida GOP did was wrong. These people are many of my friends and I respect their views. But I personally do not buy the idea of a “principle” that dictates crony-capitalist companies can’t be subject to the whims of the taxpayers that support them.
It’s like government contracting. All government contractors see their contracts canceled for political views. For example, there are many stipulations placed on government contractors regarding transgenderity and gay marriage. This has resulted in religious groups that used to help the poor and run adoption agencies being removed from the government funding loop. Joe Biden resisted this? Of course, he didn’t.
Now, if you have a company like Disney which voluntarily made itself dependent on the state by accepting massive, unique carveouts at the expense of taxpayers, it is not unprincipled to suggest they are no longer just a “private company.” Rather, they are benefiting from their partnership with the government, and if they chose to get political, are subject to the wrath of elected officials. Consider this: When did it decide that crony capitalists were to be risk-free for those companies?
The answer to any company who wants to prevent Florida’s current situation is straightforward: Avoid becoming a crony capitalist.
It is different for elected officials to remove tax exemptions or tax breaks, and actively hurting companies that are not connected with the government. “But what if the California government did this to Chick-fil-A,” you’ll hear in response. Chick-fil A does not have any California crony capitalist agreements to remove Chick-filA’s food. If they did, they would be fair game, but they don’t and aren’t.
Lastly, sticking on the topic of Chick-fil-A, it’d really be nice if everyone would stop pretending this move by the Florida GOP is unprecedented. Chickfil-A was literally expelled by Democrat governments due to its social views. The tax exemption was not revoked but it was outright banned. This is not a “first strike.” It’s a response to years of abuse. That some on the right are done getting beat up should not be surprising, and as for Biden, he’s the last place I’d look to for advice on conservatism.
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