Wednesday, Florida’s senate voted to abolish “special districts” created by Florida in 1967. The immediate impact of the impending abolition will fall on Disney and its company town, the “Reedy Creed Improvement District.” Read DeSantis Announces Legislature Will Consider Ending Disney’s ‘Special Tax and Governing Jurisdiction’ Status and BREAKING. Ron DeSantis Scores Major Win Over the Disney Groomers as Florida’s Legislature Abolishes Disney’s Special Tax Avoidance Scam.
Lawmakers in the Republican-controlled chamber backed the measure in a 23-16 vote. The measure now needs to be voted on in the state House before being allowed to go to the Republican Governor’s desk. Ron DeSantis called for support of the bill by the Legislature during this week’s special session.
The legislation would dismantle Disney’s special district on June 1, 2023. A 1967 state law granted Disney special status that allows them to be self-governing by collecting taxes, providing emergency services, and so forth. The district, which Disney owns approximately 25,000 acres of Orlando’s area, allows it to construct new structures without the need for approval from a local planning committee.
The effort to eliminate Disney’s district, known as the Reedy Creek Improvement District, comes after DeSantis began targeting the corporation over its leaders’ criticism of legislation he recently signed that would prevent classroom discussion of gender identity and sexual orientation in kindergarten through the third grade.
In my view, there is no reason to permit this “improvement district” to exist. The practice of subcontracting governance to private companies was common in the timber and coal industries during the first century. It has since been abandoned for good. One of my grandfathers and one great-grandfather lived in company towns in the coalfields of southern West Virginia; it wasn’t a great existence. However, the reaction from RealConservatives™ reminded me of why I no longer describe myself as such.
“This escalation represents an ugly and ill-conceived mistake, a blemish on DeSantis’s otherwise mostly excellent gubernatorial record,” writes Charles C. W. Cooke at National Review.
Those who have defended the move argue that sticking it to Disney in this matter demonstrates that the Republican Party is willing to “fight” and will thus represent a victory for conservatism. This is absurd. Admirably Governor DeSantis is a veteran of fighting Disney. He has even won. Florida now has a law that regulates the policy Disney made a stupid complaint about. It passed both houses of the state legislature; it was signed by DeSantis, who had been correctly defiant in the face of Disney’s gripes; and it enjoys the support of broad majorities of Floridians. The Republican Party of Florida does not need to be salt of the earth; the party has won in all aspects.
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A good question to ask in politics is, “And then what?” And so it is here. I have no doubt that, if they really want to, Governor DeSantis and the Republican majorities in the state legislature can revoke Walt Disney World’s special status, and I have no doubt that, in the short term, they might profit politically from doing so. Then what? Is the curriculum bill now even more lawful? It is not. In all likelihood, all that happens is Florida’s zoning policy gets a little worse, the legislature elects to tie itself up for years in extremely complex and costly litigation meant to untangle the state from Disney, and other large businesses note for the record that Florida’s heretofore-admirable commitment to solving big and complicated problems should henceforth be regarded with an asterisk.
That’s not “fighting.” It’s a tantrum.
This is another sample taken from National Review Brad Palumbo’s Foundation for Economic Education. staffer Hannah Cox from their website “Based Politics.”
Disney is a beneficiary of the taxpayers’ generosity. In addition to the special powers discussed, Disney also gets a lot of corporate welfare.
There’s nothing free-market about the practice of corporate welfare. In fact, it is a direct attack on the values of capitalism—allowing the government to pick winners and losers in the market, shielding large corporations from competition, and creating a corporatist political dynamic that overrides the will of the people in a constitutional republic.
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Ayn Rand once said, “The difference between a welfare state and a totalitarian state is a matter of time.” While just one incident in themselves, the actions of Florida lawmakers are another small step along that trajectory. It is clear that when the government starts to provide corporate welfare to companies, then it believes it can control them. This is also true for individuals.
The retaliatory actions of Ron DeSantis, other Florida legislators against Disney, are therefore almost certain to be unconstitutional and highly concerning. However, the corrupt relationships Disney maintained with the state government over decades opened up the door. Perhaps businesses will think twice about getting into bed with government agencies next time.
Keep following the logic. The policy is horrible. It benefits megacorporations to the disadvantage of average Floridians. But because that corporation opposes the policies of Florida’s governor and legislature, they can’t revoke the law they passed because of the First Amendment. And for Heaven’s sake, can we not drag a horrible novelist and thinker like Any Rand into what are supposed to be rational conversations.
It is exhausting. You can count on Conservative Inc. members to come together to defend and attack Republican politicians when they do things that are good policies (e.g., eliminating huge corporate welfare scams) or penalize corporations that interfere with the political process (like Disney). Of course, you hear this over and over and over with the “muh private company” types who are completely happy allowing Google, Facebook, Twitter, and associated social media companies to prevent conservative politicians from communicating with the public. Yet, these same people lose their sh** if a Republican politician talks about breaking up or regulating corporations actively meddling in our political system in a way Vladimir Putin could only dream of doing.
It reminds me of the scene from Peyton Manning’s epic SNL skit called “Mentor.” (The video is cued to the punchline, but the whole thing is worth watching.)
“Okay, I’m sorry. Do you wanna lose?”
Only one thing is respected by the left: Power. The left is not averse to politeness and kindness, but it does mistake weakness for strength. In an inconscientious and unhonest manner, Disney entered into Florida’s social policy debate. Its “First Amendment” rights were not impaired as it openly participated in maligning the sponsors of the anti-grooming bill and misrepresenting the contents of the bill. I wonder what would have happened if Gov. DeSantis or the legislature let this pass without comment? Would Disney just record the “L” and move on to their core business? No, they’d be back with a vengeance.
By slapping Disney down hard and where it hurts, that is, the pocketbook, DeSantis has prevented Florida from becoming a playground for meddling by the hyper-political LGBTIQCAPGNGFNBA+ types who have congregated in that company (I’m sure the company’s primary audience being teens and younger has nothing at all to do with anything).
DeSantis’ pantomime against Disney is the same as any form of political retaliation. If your enemies don’t fear you, you lose the ability to impose an agenda on the legislature and state agencies. Why the Conservative, Inc. people can’t grasp that sometimes you do have to plow the earth with salt (metaphorically) and parade around (metaphorically) with heads on pikes to make a point is just beyond me, and I don’t care to follow any political leader who is afraid of retaliating against and breaking the Democrats and the corporations that employ them.
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