[b]● Disney’s special tax district ends after half a century ● Changes seen by many as retaliation for Disney’s view on “Don’t say gay” measure. ● “The corporate kingdom finally comes to and end” says Governor DeSantis[/b]
[i][c=666666]A Walt Disney World photographer holds a Pride rainbow-coloured Mickey Mouse cutout (REUTERS)[/c][/i]
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On Monday, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed a bill that allows the state to take control of a special tax district that surrounds Walt Disney World. It brings to an end the arrangement that had been in place for over 50 years and allowed the company to run itself with a high degree of autonomy.
“The corporate kingdon finally comes to an end,” DeSantis said at a press event at Lake Buena Vista near Orlando.
Disney was targeted by state Republicans last year after it clashed with DeSantis. The public debate raged over a new law that restricts classroom instruction of gender and sexual orientation. That law is known by its opponents as the “Don’t Say Gay” measure. DeSantis is widely expected to run for president in 2024. At the time, Disney’s CEO, Bob Chapek voiced disappointment with the new law and stated that he had called DeSantis to express concerns about the new measures.
Now this recent move by DeSantis is seen by many as retaliation for Disney’s view on the “Don’t Say Gay” measure. The new bill that DeSantis signed into law authorizes the Governor to appoint five supervisors to oversee municipal services such as fire protection, public utilities, waste collection and road maintenance in the region where Disney World operates. The supervisors also have the authority to raise revenue to pay outstanding debt to cover the cost of services.
“We have a situation here that was basically indefensible from a policy perspective,” DeSantis said. “How do you give one theme park its own government and then treat all the other theme parks differently? We believe that that was not a good policy.”
A spokesperson for Disney did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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[c=004A59][b]Opinion Poll: [u]Should Disney be punished for its view on 'Don't Say Gay' law?[/u][/b][/c]
📊 Vote your Opinion in the Poll, above. 📥 💬 Comment below. ⬇️
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Disney has become its own country down here in Florida. Making money hand over fist. they need to be part of our state and governed accordingly. Now maybe we can clean up the pedophilia...
as for the Don't say Gay, that is twisting his intention.
@akindheart I think you will find that the case with all big industries. I don't argue that big corporations should be better members of society. That is where I thought we disagree with the politics. I read a lot of the muckraker's books. We seem to be moving back to the era of the robber barons. The story behind the recent train wreck is one example. Imagine, the train fired33% of their employees, there were only 2 regular employees and one trainee on the train that derailed, it is easy for a sharpshooter with a high-powered rifle to do similar damage to trains rolling in backyards throughout the country. The only way most auto manufacturers brought safety into the manufacture of vehicles was though federal requirements. If big business was proactive, we could have smaller government and fewer written regulations
@akindheart Disney has been Disney for decades, why the sudden decision to make a change is none of my business. But, I think Disney is only one of so many big corporations that take a lot from society and give back so little. I worked for the pharmaceutical industry. I could be a much wealthier person had I continued, but I could not abide by their corporate strategies.
@akindheart I don't judge him for the result, perhaps for the motivation. I am sure there are other corporations that get enormous tax breaks. I'd like to see those discontinued. I see that all the time, corporations get sates, local towns, etc., into competitions to attract them, by granting tax exemptions, etc. Look at the sports teams, often the state pays to build their arenas and the teams pocket enormous profits, paying no taxes.
@samueltyler2 i need to do my research to be honest. i don't think this was from the school controversy. i know there have been pedophilia issues in Disney too
@akindheart Please, don't go down the rabbit hole re; pedophilia. You are really too smart a woman for that. Someone almost died because of rumors of pedophilia in some fast food restaurant. I am totally against pedophilia, but we all need to calm down the rhetoric.
@samueltyler2 i want to find out exactly why DeSantis signed the bill into effect. I do know for a fact there are problems with pedophilia in disney and arrests but i doubt that has anythingto do with the bill...if I speak up, i like to know what i am talking about. i don't make blind statements
@akindheart Okay, i have not heard of any pedophilia at Disneyworld. With the entire place geared to children, I imagine there could be people looking to prey on the kids. I think we are monopolizing this post too much.
@graphite But, he has screwed the people of Florida for some foolish needs of his own. I will never understand why people can't just let people be whatever they want, as long as no one gets hurt. What happens behind closed doors should be no one else's business. Teaching tolerance should be a no-brainer.
@samueltyler2 DeSantis rules in Florida. Easily re-elected. People are flooding from the Democrat states into Florida, housing prices going up. The residents are very happy with him.
@graphite Funny thing, many, of not all, of my friends in Florida dislike him intensely. I know he won re-election handily, that worries me a lot. His outbursts his new moves to control the media, all have such totalitarian tendencies that I really worry about how we can easily lose our democracy. I don't want to live in a country where the press is controlled by an authoritarian figure he wants no bad things said about them.
@samueltyler2 They can move to New York or New Jersey and enjoy the high taxes and high crime. DeSantis controls the press or just points out their hypocrisy and Democrat Party advocacy to their faces? The national press in Florida: "Waah! He told the truth about me! Waah!!" Please cite for me one article that DeSantis prevented from being published, one newscast he prevented from being broadcast. (Was funny when a reporter tried to scold him for having Hurricane Ian emergency crews in Tampa, where all reports said the hurricane would go, and not to the place near there where the hurricane actually went. DeSantis noted that reporter's own organization was camped in Tampa and not the other place. 🤣)
@graphite i give up, i am not in the mood to argue with you, obviously you are not concerned when a governor indicates he will not even speak to 2 major media groups, and, like a former tyrant in Europe, wants all media to be registered in his state, and thus controlled. I can not even fathom how people like you, who want the government to leave their hands of, now espouse such tight control.
@samueltyler2 So you have no citations for articles he prevented from being published, or newscasts he prevented from being broadcast. That is what an authoritarian would do. Glad we're clear on that.
@graphite You are being a typical right wing idiot. Come on, how would I know of any specific article he prevents from being published? Go follow your leader, God help us if his sort of government should succeed. If you like that style, go live under Putin. He first forced the registration of all media, then banned some, removed books, if that doesn't sound familiar, then you are even more blind and dumb then you make out to be.
