# DeSantis's war on Disney **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [April 19, 2022, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/desantiss-war-on-disney/963073 "2022-04-19T18:56:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2022, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/desantiss-war-on-disney/963073/81 "2022-04-21T18:21:49Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Estimates are that if Florida takes away Disney’s special status, it will amount to a $2200 per year tax increase for every family in that county. Raise the county tax rate. A small increase would be invisible to the rates Disney charges customers. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2022, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/desantiss-war-on-disney/963073/82 "2022-04-21T18:24:28Z")
Time for the Mouse to fight back, and hard. I like the “Donate millions to just Democrats in Florida” idea floated above. I like the “Close down and lay everybody off” idea better. Neither will happen. ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2022, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/desantiss-war-on-disney/963073/83 "2022-04-21T18:25:04Z")
There are people in those counties that have nothing at all to do with Disney, but they will be forced to foot the bill for its infrastructure. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2022, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/desantiss-war-on-disney/963073/84 "2022-04-21T18:33:08Z")
Nothing stopping them from raising the sales tax. Disney should be paying it’s fair share to the community instead of getting tax breaks. ---
**Author:** ![Airbeck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/airbeck/32/6574_2.png) [@Airbeck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airbeck)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2022, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/desantiss-war-on-disney/963073/85 "2022-04-21T18:34:26Z")
As the number one employer in the state, I would say they have always added something to the community. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2022, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/desantiss-war-on-disney/963073/86 "2022-04-21T18:42:09Z")
The tourism money Disney brings in is a substantial part of why Floridians pay no state income tax. ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2022, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/desantiss-war-on-disney/963073/87 "2022-04-21T18:51:09Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > Nothing stopping them from raising the sales tax. Right, they will raise the sales tax on _all_ the residents, not just those at Disney. > [@Magiver](#): > > Disney should be paying it’s fair share to the community instead of getting tax breaks. That’s what it _was_ doing. It paid for all the infrastructure and maintenance out of its own funds. Now, they can’t, since that was pretty much the entire point of the special tax district, the state and county will have to pay for it instead. Unless they decide to create a bill of attainder to increase Disney’s taxes over that of other businesses in the county, those other businesses and their customers will be on the hook for that. Special tax districts are not really anything special, despite the name. They are a pretty common way for businesses in an unincorporated area to band together and pay for infrastructure improvements. Getting rid of Disney’s special tax district isn’t giving it a tax break, it is in fact, making the state and county taxpayers pay for the things that it used to pay for itself. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_S](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/46a35a/32.png) [@Max\_S](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_S)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2022, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/desantiss-war-on-disney/963073/88 "2022-04-21T19:00:07Z")
> [@Airbeck](#): > > As the number one employer in the state, I would say they have always added something to the community. That would be Walmart. \>100,000 employees in Florida. ~Max ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2022, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/desantiss-war-on-disney/963073/89 "2022-04-21T19:03:01Z")
Eh, not by all that much, ~80k vs ~100k. I’d say they are still a pretty significant contributor to the community. ---
**Author:** ![Airbeck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/airbeck/32/6574_2.png) [@Airbeck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airbeck)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2022, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/desantiss-war-on-disney/963073/90 "2022-04-21T19:03:23Z")
Disney is the top employer in central Florida. You know, the community that we are talking about right now in the previous posts. Nit pick acknowledged, but doesn’t change the point one iota. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_S](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/46a35a/32.png) [@Max\_S](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_S)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2022, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/desantiss-war-on-disney/963073/91 "2022-04-21T19:04:26Z")
Yeah, just a nitpick. ~Max ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2022, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/desantiss-war-on-disney/963073/92 "2022-04-21T19:14:35Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > Using tax rebates for free speech makes it a publicly funded political process. Do you have a cite for this? I’ve never heard of anything like it before. ---
**Author:** ![Airbeck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/airbeck/32/6574_2.png) [@Airbeck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airbeck)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2022, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/desantiss-war-on-disney/963073/93 "2022-04-21T19:16:07Z")
Corporations are people with freedom of speech, unless they speak in a way that conservatives don’t like. Apparently. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2022, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/desantiss-war-on-disney/963073/94 "2022-04-21T19:16:41Z")
The GOP has been working on the premise that whatever unethical or illegal thing the GOP is doing, the Dems must also be doing. I suspect then, that in a basement under a Republican sponsor owned Pizza parlor, we are gonna find some nasty stuff going on. > [@Chronos](#): > > All I know is, Disney is not who I would want to have as an enemy. Yep. > [@UltraVires](#): > > Now that this corporation has stopped only being a happy fun theme park but has used its quasi-government status to inject itself heavily into the political process, then the idea becomes that a private corporation should not be given a unique government platform from which to push its agenda. You have it backwards. The GOP made it clear that Disney had to pay for it’s deal, in political donations, etc. The GOP then decided to embark on a bigoted homophobic platform, which Disney can not support, thus Disney is cutting off the donation spigot. The GOP is angry that it’s bigotry it going to hit them in the pocketbook, so they are retaliating. > [@epbrown](#): > > Dave Chappelle had it right - we’ll get gun control legislation in the US when _people of color_ start buying and registering guns in large numbers. They already do and have done. > [@Moriarty](#): > > As an example, look to California’s reaction to the Black Panthers in the 1960s. Remember, in addition to doing community betterment programs like school lunches, their modus operandi was to stand by and watch the police conduct their business - while armed with rifles. > > When they eventually showed up on the steps of the Capitol to read a copy of the Declaration of Independence, legally carrying a rifle in California became a problem. It wasn’t the Black Panthers so much, as the State realized it had a little used loophole in it’s laws. The BP discovered this loophole and used it for a political protest. If the KKK had done the same thing, the law also would have been changed. > [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > Of all the governmental gifts to private corporations Florida’s creating The Reedy Creek Improvement District is far and away the most egregious in modern history,… Hardly. Disney took worthless swampy land and turned it into something that brings billions of dollars into Florida, not only in tourism, but also taxes. It benefited Florida more than Disney. Note that Universal Studios then opened it’s theme park also, due to WDW. > [@Magiver](#): > > Nothing stopping them from raising the sales tax. Disney should be paying it’s fair share to the community instead of getting tax breaks. They do, and more. Sales in WDW do pay State sales tax. > [@Johnny\_Bravo](#): > > The tourism money Disney brings in is a substantial part of why Floridians pay no state income tax. Yep. This is gonna cost the taxpayers a LOT: > **[Disney vs. Florida (Published 2022)](https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/21/business/dealbook/disney-florida-taxes.html)** > > A debate over taxes is rapidly unraveling Florida’s long relationship with Disney, with broader implications for corporate America. **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](https://www.newsweek.com/ron-desantis-disney-revenge-could-cost-florida-residents-one-billion-dollars-1699265). 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._ ---
**Author:** ![Max\_S](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/46a35a/32.png) [@Max\_S](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_S)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2022, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/desantiss-war-on-disney/963073/95 "2022-04-21T19:30:43Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Orange and Osceola counties Both blue counties, so all good. ~Max ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2022, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/desantiss-war-on-disney/963073/96 "2022-04-21T21:17:06Z")
> [@Lord\_Feldon](#): > > The Reedy Creek Improvement District is a (weird) municipality, i.e. a state government agency, and the state can abolish it at any time through whatever legislative process is provided by the state’s constitution and laws. Municipalities have **no** constitutional rights separate from those of their own states; in fact, they do not have standing to sue their own states in federal court for any reason whatsoever. > > I think Disney would have an uphill climb in establishing before the current federal courts that there’s any justiciable issue at all here. I don’t think there’s ever been a finding that a state’s ability to abolish a government agency is limited by the constitutional rights of the entities that elect the agency’s authorities. (Maybe it came up during desegregation? Like, I could see a state abolishing a majority-black city for blatantly racial reasons, and I could see that era’s courts looking very unfavorably on such an action.) I think it’s fairly well established that, regardless of how much a government official might have a **right** to do a thing, that’s irrelevant if the official was **abusing** that right. A city has no duty, for example, to give its streets over for a political demonstration. But, having chosen to do so, if it grants permission to a group and then - later - decides to revoke that permission because the group said that it believed that yellow people were better than red people, the demonstrators would have a valid first amendment argument and they would probably win. Disney would need to demonstrate that this was a retaliatory measure but, I suspect, that’s easy enough to do with minimal discovery. Quite possibly, there’s already sufficient public information already to make a case. ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2022, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/desantiss-war-on-disney/963073/97 "2022-04-21T23:08:57Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > Using tax rebates for free speech makes it a publicly funded political process. I guess we’re gonna lose a lot of participants on this subforum when the IRS gets around to issuing refund checks this year. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2022, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/desantiss-war-on-disney/963073/98 "2022-04-21T23:25:37Z")
> [@Max\_S](#): > > The city could eminent domain my _house_ because they don’t like me, I’m not sure I’d have any legal recourse. Not if they did so because of your speech, and essentially admit as such. That what appears to be going on here. The fig leaf explanation would need to be believed by jury. Also, you do realize you’re arguing freedom of speech doesn’t exist in the US, right? That seems at odds with positions you’ve taken before. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2022, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/desantiss-war-on-disney/963073/99 "2022-04-21T23:27:56Z")
> [@Steve\_MB](#): > > > [@Magiver](#): > > > > Using tax rebates for free speech makes it a publicly funded political process. > > I guess we’re gonna lose a lot of participants on this subforum when the IRS gets around to issuing refund checks this year. No kidding. It’s my guess that **Magiver** is using a dictionary that was written by someone who doesn’t speak English. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_S](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/46a35a/32.png) [@Max\_S](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_S)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2022, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/desantiss-war-on-disney/963073/100 "2022-04-21T23:31:53Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > Not if they did so because of your speech, and essentially admit as such. That what appears to be going on here. The fig leaf explanation would need to be believed by jury. You have it backwards. The burden is on Disney to prove the legislature’s action is retaliation for protected speech, which is easier said than done. > [@BigT](#): > > Also, you do realize you’re arguing freedom of speech doesn’t exist in the US, right? That seems at odds with positions you’ve taken before. Uh, no. ~Max [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/desantiss-war-on-disney/963073.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/desantiss-war-on-disney/963073.md?page=6)