This story is a long ways from over. I wouldn't be in a hurry to conclude that the Walt Disney Company, Inc., is about to get hit with a financial "beat down."
I know everyone here probably thinks DeSantis is some kind of savant for going after Disney, but this is a two way street and Disney is not going to be on the money losing side of it.
After all, if there's one thing government does efficiently, it's giving it's corporate friends tax loopholes.
I'm not sure about the 1968 cutoff date either. I guess it has some significance other than some arbitrary selection else they're gonna roast them over it
I know everyone here probably thinks DeSantis is some kind of savant for going after Disney, but this is a two way street and Disney is not going to be on the money losing side of it.
After all, if there's one thing government does efficiently, it's giving it's corporate friends tax loopholes.
I'm not sure about the 1968 cutoff date either. I guess it has some significance other than some arbitrary selection else they're gonna roast them over it
This isn't about money. It's about the consequences of woke corporations sticking their noses into the political arena. Disney has no business supporting the grooming of children.
This isn't about money. It's about the consequences of woke corporations sticking their noses into the political arena. Disney has no business supporting the grooming of children.
Make no mistake about it, it's definitely about BOTH money and politics.
Leftists are so used to suffering the unintended consequences of their own moronic actions they expect the same to happen everyone else.
The idea of any business corporation being allowed to act indefinitely as it's own city or county within the state that hosts it and any such business corporation then deciding that it is so powerful that they can push around that state's Governor and legislature at will is as insane as Disney's continuing insistence on supporting the sexual grooming of children.
..
Despite Leftist wishful thinking and delusions, Disney WILL suffer serious financial impact, including but not limited to, loss of their real estate property tax discounts and loss of their state sales tax discounts. Disney will also be subject to paying for all periodic special tax assessments for road, storm sewer, lighting and all other infrastructure improvements leading up to the boundaries of Disney corporate property for which they have previously enjoyed the benefits of without paying for. Disney will also lose the power to issue "municipal bonds" to cover their own capital requirements or term debt, (that practice should have been stopped by the U.S. SEC a very long time ago).
All because LEFTISTS gotta Leftist....
... and the Disney Leftists decided that sexually grooming small children was more important to them than their fiscal responsibility to their shareholders:
DISNEY HAS ALREADY STARTED SUFFERING THE FINANCIAL IMPACT
[This message has been edited by randye (edited 04-21-2022).]
It is my opinion (and I shouldn't have to say that) that government should never give any business special privileges. This is a tangled web that was woven a long time ago, and holds the carcasses of many a fly and grasshopper.
I understand how and why deals are made, but to me it is contrary to principle. I also know that there will always be someone willing to usurp principle for personal gain.
As a side note, I lived in Orlando during the time that Disney was making those original deals. The "secret" was no secret.
“On Thursday, Newsmax host Eric Bolling asked Lt. Gov Jeanette Nuñes if the governor would reconsider repealing Disney's special tax status if the company gave up its "'woke' agenda.'"
"Is there an opportunity for Disney to change their mind and say we will disregard this whole 'woke' agenda. And would the governor then say, 'Fine, you can keep your status but we're gonna keep an eye on you now'?" Bolling asked, to which Nuñes replied: "Sure."”
"I'm not sure about the 1968 cutoff date either. I guess it has some significance other than some arbitrary selection else they're gonna roast them over it."
1968 was when the Florida Constitution was ratified, so anything done before then is technically out of compliance with the Constitution.
"I know everyone here probably thinks DeSantis is some kind of savant for going after Disney, but this is a two way street and Disney is not going to be on the money losing side of it. "
It's probably something that should have happened a long time ago. The law that passed the senate and house yesterday (which will probably be signed today), included 5 other territories. I don't remember if I'm getting it right, but it includes the land currently used by Lego Land (the old Cypress Gardens property), some watershed property, the Florida turnpike, the Orlando airport, and the original property at the center of The Villages (which has already all been developed).
Each of these were handled differently, and the law effectively removes the special district rights for all of them and will force them to re-apply under a new law that has a basic set of standards. As I said, this is probably something that really should have been done a long time ago, and this was a perfect opportunity for Florida to rectify this problem.
I fully expect Disney to reapply and get this special status back; HOWEVER, it will be under a different set of rules that are less amenable to what they have now. Bottom line, Disney will lose on this.
Not trying to be coy or poke fun, but I know that the narrative that's being pushed all around liberal parts of Twitter, Reddit, etc... is that Disney will be fine and this does nothing. I am quite sure Disney will survive, but this is a colossal failure on the part of the Disney CEO, and I would not be surprised if he's fired. Disney stock has basically plummeted over 30% since this whole thing started about 2 months ago.
I also expect that with this new law, other entertainment theme parks will probably apply as well, and will likely get it. This really doesn't effect The Villages at all because they've already built up those areas, and already made agreements with two (three?) counties that surround them, Sumter, etc.
"Despite Leftist wishful thinking and delusions, Disney WILL suffer serious financial impact, including but not limited to, loss of their real estate property tax discounts and loss of their state sales tax discounts. Disney will also be subject to paying for all periodic special tax assessments for road, storm sewer, lighting and all other infrastructure improvements leading up to the boundaries of Disney corporate property for which they have previously enjoyed the benefits of without paying for. Disney will also lose the power to issue "municipal bonds" to cover their own capital requirements or term debt, (that practice should have been stopped by the U.S. SEC a very long time ago)."
Yes, exactly, and in responding back again to slicknick, this will be a net-loss for Disney, and a net gain for the taxpayer. Despite what you're reading, the taxpayer will not absorb the tax debt. When DeSantis signs this law, it will not mean that from one day to the next, keys are handed over... this will take a year of transition, and there should be every reason to expect Disney will apply for the status under the new laws. What they will lose is the ability to set their own local taxation rate. They will also lose their ability to decide at will how they build. Previously, Disney could have been allowed to build a nuclear power plant or a rocket launch site if they wanted to. This all would have to get approved by the county with which the territory technically resides.
At a minimum, Disney will end up having to pay more taxes and will need to get approvals for new construction, as well as other things.
As I said... the CEO of Disney is basically shitting his pants. Since taking over from Bob Iger in 2020, he's basically failed miserably. It's been one misstep after another, with constant failures. Every time he's handled a situation poorly. Randye's image above does not do it justice... they've lost almost 30% stock value since February for multiple... multiple failures.
Transgender people make up .0032 percent of the US population. People who are homosexual (realistically), don't make up more than 2-3% of the population, though a lot of people are putting "other" now on polls as a sign of support, which basically counts more or less as LGBT. Even with those skewed results, it comes out to under 7%. The over-representation is insane, and it shows how out of touch with reality Disney has become with their core customer base. No one really cares if there's going to be a homosexual or something in a movie, but for children's shows, there's really no point in having anything to do with sex or relationship status. It's too forced, and people aren't happy.
The CEO's tenure is up for a vote in February of 2023. I'm willing to bet he doesn't even make it to that point and gets kicked out by the board of directors.
The fact that DeSantis hasn't signed the bill yet, leads me to believe that the Disney CEO is desperately kissing his ass right now in private. That would be my guess.
The fact that DeSantis hasn't signed the bill yet, leads me to believe that the Disney CEO is desperately kissing his ass right now in private. That would be my guess.
BOOM!
It's a done deal. Governor DeSantis signed the legislation...and, just for fun, DeSantis also signed the bill banning CRT in Florida schools.
[This message has been edited by randye (edited 04-23-2022).]
Y’all still skirting around the fact that a news source that isn’t the MSM got the government on record negotiating a companies (now a person per citizens united) right to free speech and signing a bill in retaliation.
Y’all still skirting around the fact that a news source that isn’t the MSM got the government on record negotiating a companies (now a person per citizens united) right to free speech and signing a bill in retaliation.
That will certainly be the angle they're going to go for, but it won't change anything. Here's how the law works.
Federal law takes precedence where and when there is a state law that violates a Federal law. In order for this to go to court, Disney Corporation would have to show injury. Injury has not yet happened because the transition doesn't take place until June of 2023. This means that Disney has the full opportunity to reapply for special status under the NEW law by that point.
But there's more... Disney was not singled out. There were 5 other special districts which were eliminated, and they all also must re-apply under the new state law. The law sought to eliminate those 6 districts because they existed prior to the passage of the Florida constitution.
Here's the main point...
The Federal government cannot force a state to do something that would be unconstitutional to State laws, where there is no existing precedence in Federal law. To put this mildly, Disney has no recourse. The Federal government has no law established that states what a special district is and how states should manage it. That is entirely up to the state. The court could eventually rule that Florida acted inappropriately and issue a stay order, but as I said, the existing agreement violates Florida constitutional law. If it even made it to the Supreme Court, it would get overturned because there's nothing for the Federal government TO do.
Disney screwed up, and I would expect the CEO will likely get removed at some point, when all of this clears. This isn't the first time he's screwed up, he's been in constant missteps with the public, from the Scarlett Johanssen contract violation, to this, there have been several in the middle, and the board of directors are not pleased.
A lot of the Disney stock tanking has much to do with NetFlix affecting Disney+ valuation, but the majority of this is as a result of the CEO's failure.
His tenure is up in February of 2023, but many people are questioning whether or not he'll even make it by then and will likely get removed by the board of directors.
