The Walt Disney Company has filed a lawsuit against Florida stating a targeted campaign of government retaliation orchestrated by Gov. Ron DeSantis was used as punishment for Disney's protected speech.
Unless DeSantis is willing to remove the special district status of The Villages too, he can’t claim that the whole Disney fiasco is anything other than political punishment.
Not just the villages but also other corporations (like Universal and Seaworld) who took advantage of similar deals the RCID gave to Disney (and yes, they all had similar deals in the early days since Florida needed as much tourism as possible).
Disney resorts & theme parks are still within the boundaries of a special district. It just has a new name & oversight board & has to abide by the same statutes as as other special districts in Florida.
Desangwich is costing FLA taxpayers millions of dollars. Disney should just leave Florida and let them find out what it's like not to have the largest generator of revenue in the state.
@Jon zebra Why would they do that? You ever think before you type? They would go to Texas. Texas would love that. "Judge Cortez’s letter continues, “Should there come a time when Disney begins to exercise any contingency that might include relocation of your theme park in Florida, know that Hidalgo County extends an open invitation to relocate to the Rio Grande Valley of South Texas.” Judge Cortez continued to mention the benefits of relocating the Orlando-based Resort to Texas, including better proximity to the Gulf of Mexico, an outstanding business environment, a 12% County growth over the past decade, a younger workforce median age, and higher graduation rates than 15 other states." Why do you type words? Just to see them on the screen?
@Mantis Toboggan, M.D. You know what is funny...people think that is a good thing. Meanwhile, it's harder to buy a home in the area. Urban areas are getting more congested, and when the next hurricane hits, people are going to wonder why a Cat 2 is setting records to highest net damage cost. Here's news for you as well...people don't move solely because of politics. They move because it's cheap...until it isn't. It's happening here in Texas too. California money is causing many native Texans to be priced out of the housing market. As well, if you think they are leaving their politics over there...or that they are all Republican...you're going to be in for a shock.
Just imagine him as president and getting all the social media company’s to eliminate all his fears from their media sources! LoL it would be communism.
I don't usually side with the house of Mouse but I'm very much looking forward to seeing DeSantis crucified in both the court of public opinion and the law. Disney has gone pretty easy on him so far and I feel that the grace period is coming to an end.
This. I said it before and I'll say it again, what Disney did before when they embarrassed DeSantis was a warning shot, basically them stating don't mess with us, because we will win and destroy you. DeSantis didn't listen and decided to push harder and now Disney is finally removing the kid gloves.
?? Seriously folks, just how obnoxious and greedy is the Disney CEO and the shareholders, to think they are an untouchable state within Florida, (like the divine Pope in Vatican City,) and that Disney will simply pay taxes if and when they choose. (I am unaware of any company in America that has the legal right to operate its own government or maintain special privileges not held by other businesses in the country.) Disney needs to be reminded they are not above following the rules like everyone else and just because they have gotten away with not paying their share of taxes, for decades, doesn't make it acceptable business practice.
Ive lived in that area Disney does incredible things for the locals distributing food to the poor ect every day and they get no publicity for it their a great company in my opinion and the people of Florida stand around saying nothing to this tyrant it's a shame...
@@wm3483 They pay their employees starting at $18. Minimum wage for the state is $12 starting later this year. I personally want to see $20 as the minimum at WDW as cost of living and housing is too much in Central Florida. I'm proud to hear Disney is investing heavily into housing to relieve the issue.
I have not dog in the fight but it's interesting that conservatives cheer on the government telling a private company what they can and can't do or say. I though their whole argument was they the free market would always pan out
Reedy Creek Improvement District was not a private company. It was a public entity over which the state has always had the authority to pass legislation.
DeSantis's vendetta against Disney is already hurting him with big money GOP donors, and it will destroy his political future. Suburban GOP voters will be repulsed by a guy who half seriously suggests putting a prison next to a theme park.
This all started when Disney made one comment that Tiny D disagreed with, so Tiny D declared war on Disney, the state’s biggest employer. What happened to freedom of speech? Tiny D needs to go.
Okay Groomer All you Disney supporters also Support NetFlix’s “Cuties” You lefties are disgusting. You voted for a kid sniffing dirt bag who has a son who admits to be being with under age girls. You people are evil
@Darth Quantum DeSantis versus Mickey The rift between De Santis and the Mouse House began just over a year ago, when Disney openly expressed its opposition to Florida’s controversial “Don’t Say Gay” bill. DeSantis responded by calling Disney “woke,” which is just about the worst thing a person or entity can be called in Republicanspeak these days. But Disney is a behemoth in Florida where, according to the Tallahassee Democrat, the company has a $75.2 billion annual economic impact on Central Florida, adds approximately 465,000 jobs to the workforce, and puts an estimated $5.8 billion back into the state tax revenue’s coffers each year. So DeSantis might have picked a fight with the wrong mouse. Bruce Lee “Don’t correct a fool, he will hate you for it. Correct a wiseman he will appreciate!” DeSantis is that fool! 1.7 billion in tax dollars is hard to replace!
@Darth Quantum Up to a judge to tell if it is a legal contract or not. Currently they are contending RCID violated the sunshine laws by not making the meeting known when it is an established fact the meetings were posted in the Orlando Sentinel. Are you not alarmed that these meetings were posted in the largest paper in the region and not only did the new board not see them, but didn't inquire about being part of RCID's last meetings? They didn't even know until their second meeting two months after the vote. At the very least I'm sure you'd agree there was a horrible lack of oversight from the governor's handpicked board and the state who was taking over, right?
@@jonfreeman9682 have my own critiques of Disney, but they have been around for a century. Desantis is serving his second and last term. They will be around long after he is gone. Florida’s main source of income is tourism. He’s biting the hand that feeds his state.
Disney's lawyers already knew where this was going. They've been ahead of DeSantis at every turn. I'd wager they've been baiting his narcissism the entire time.
He's astute at appealing to a certain type of base, but he's otherwise not exactly overburdened with intelligence. The Mouse House crew can dance around him.
DeSantis isn't fit to be dog catcher. He's only concerned with himself and his own ego. All this time wasted targeting Disney. Hasn't he got better things to do?
Sadly he’s spending millions of FL taxpayer dollars on his lavish “presidential campaign”/vacation in Japan, S.Korea, Israel and the UK. Of course his legislature passed an authoritarian bill that he does not have to disclose any information about financial burden placed on FL citizens. How does a sitting FL Governor continue with this mockery of a presidential campaign which is illegal in state of FL?
Disney is going clean the floor with LITTLE RON. His attack on Disney is transparent, so transparent the IDIOT DESANTIS put it in his book that he was retaliating against Disney for purely political purposes. Look, Ron is a LYING RACIST HOMOPHOBE and he will not get away with what he doing to the Special District. Ultimately, there will never be another Republican elected governor in Florida. BTW... the one thing Ron DeSantis is good at is killing his constituents. Thanks to his policies Florida was near the top of the list of COVID DEATHS.
The ones who have lost 55% of their stock price and 122 billion in last two years. A company who openly supports sexualizing kids. Glad to see lefties support this kid indoctrinating. Scum bags
Disney will lose. They violate parental rights to raise their children. Government and corporation has no right ti meddle between parents and their children.
Its crazy that DicSantis thinks he has a sliver of a chance to compete w/ Disney. Disney can buy and sell Florida 100x over. I cant wait to see him take the hit when it happens
@DANCAST A 2019 study found Disney dominates the Central Florida tourism industry, according to Oxford Economics, and produced: $75.2 billion annual economic impact for Central Florida. 463,000 jobs. $5.8 billion in additional state tax revenue.
And Disney will go to the mattresses on this fight. Disney will still be doing business long after DeSantis is gone and the Florida taxpayers will still be paying for his fragile ego. SCOTUS already ruled that businesses are people and in doing so they have the "Right to free speech". Is DeSantis going to go after every business that disagrees with him?
@@CraigScottFrost Yes, I saw that crazy decision reported on BBC news here in the UK. It seems that all he's interested in doing is supporting any proposal to appease right wing religious nuts, and the even nuttier gun contingent.
Disney lawyers are going to humiliate him a second time. Why did DeSantis choose this hill to die on? If he really wanted to be president he would quit doubling down on personal grievances. I'm almost embarrassed for him.
You mean a *third* time, good sir. First was when the Governor and Legislature put forward the legislation to eliminate the district. Because they probably didn't read the original agreement, the State of Florida agreed the district's debts had to be settled before the Special District could be eliminated. Those debts are $2B which Florida was not going to pay. Second was when the Governor and Legislature went back to the drawing board and decided to instead take away the RCID board's control of the district and give it to appointees by the Governor. Well, that didn't go to well because Disney outfoxed them with a contract that will have to go to court giving almost all control directly to Disney. The new board made a resolution today saying the authority given to Disney wasn't lawful as it didn't follow Florida's sunshine laws that make such meetings public record. It is a fact Disney put the two meetings in the Orlando Sentinel which is standard practice. This will have to go to court and it isn't likely Florida will win as Florida's State Constitution says the state and local governments can't legislate themselves out of contracts. Third will be when this goes to court. The vague laws the DeSantis Administration and Legislature put forward are coming home to roost as civil lawsuits related to them are overwhelming the docket. It will probably take a year alone to get this case on the docket. Probably 2-3 before it goes before a judge. Even if it did not favor Disney, it can be pushed into federal court which is historically just as friendly to Disney as Florida used to be. DeSantis wanted culture war points for his presidential run. He doesn't care if it sticks. It being tied up in court actually helps him as it isn't a full defeat yet. Disney might not even have to win in court as the State of Florida is likely to drop it after DeSantis's term limit in 2026.
Right off the bat he should have just said the state of Florida loves Disney but the people run the state, not Disney. Would have scored him points and ended it right there.
They way the governor, the legislature and the new board has reacted to Disney’s stated position on a bill been insane and not in the benefit of Floridians. I can only imagine the consequences that their insane actions will have not only on Disney’s future investment decisions in Florida, but as also those of any other business here and those that may consider investing or locating in Florida in the future. Floridians will suffer..all because the governor got his ego bruised.
Seems like Ronnie did a pretty good job proving he is simply retaliating given his statements about this matter. Gotta love when they're to stupid to realize they're hanging themselves. 😂
Every action taken by the governor or by his appointees on the Reedy Creek board is vetted by the attorneys of Cooper & Kirk and Lawson. These attorneys charge a combined rate of $1300 per hour. All of these fees are covered by public funds generated from tax revenue.
Just because they charge alot of money doesn't make them good attorneys. Look at the crazy ones Trump has had. ......And Florida won't have too much tax revenue if Desantis runs businesses out of the state.
Ron seems to forget he's dealing with the mouse. In Law school they have special classes to teach you how to deal with Disney for a reason. Dude is going to be sued into oblivion.
Exactly. Why this guy thinks he can tangle with Disney and come out on top is baffling (and comical), Stick to banning books and pissing on the rights of American citizens' in general.
@@mcpbaa3000 He's not in it to win. He's in it to flex for all the idiots that vote for him. They think he's the Robin Hood in this situation when he's really the Sheriff of Nottingham.
What ever happened to just ignoring people/companies that you disagree with? Why take actions to retaliate against free speech and open yourself up to an expensive lawsuit? If DeSantis had just kept his mouth shut and let Disney be Disney, he would not have all of these problems.
He saw it as an opportunity to get the Maga base excited. The superhero taking on woke elites. Republicans claim Mickey "grooms" children to be trans or some such hogwash. He thought it would supercharge his presidential campaign, I hope the cynical, amoral governor miscalculated badly.
Because if Disney wins DeathSantis doesn't have to pay a dime. The tax payers do. The taxpayers that support DeathSantis seem to have money to burn in that respect.
Yes. Next time, perhaps the voters will look for a moderate governor. The current sitting Republicans seem to want the country to themselves. It's an affront of traditional values
@@heathermccall8015 Disney is the largest SINGLE SITE employer with almost 80K employees . It's takes all 847 Publix stores in the entire state to employ 200K people.
Can you imagine Boots Desantis with the nuclear codes? The first time Kim insulted him, he'd loosen a few sub launched ICBMs and then we'd all be dead.
Hell, not even that, I'm thinking about all the countries who will trick DeSantis and in turn take advantage of the US as they manipulate DeSantis to do what they want (and this string of events proves how easy it is to play DeSantis).
We all knew this moment would come. DeSantis chose to fight Disney only because the company took a position "he didn't like" and saw it as a direct threat to him. He just said he would do a lot of things against the company because he doesn't know what freedom of expression is here in America, and now he's going to answer for it. Go, mouse go!!
Look at the track record of the Disney Corp, Legal Department and their many many MANY successes in courts all over the US and WORLDWIDE! It's not DeSantis vs "Mickey Mouse" it's him vs one of the best corporate legal departments in the world! If I were a betting man, all my money would be on the Disney legal team.
So, Disney has "many, many, MANY" successes in courts all over the US and WORLDWIDE"? Why are they in court so often? Yet, you cheer them on. Typical. You are either a sheep or you are on their payroll. Which is it?
Anyone thinking this is a good thing, just consider this as the first step and next time you do something against your local politician will it be just as good when he makes it a personal vendetta against you and passing legislation that affects your business, or livelihood, while you have no say.
@@nathanjones6638 Corps that don't pay their fair share are a burden on our society, reaping millions while not helping. This is purely a government using their powers to go after a corporation that spoke against their policies, which is exactly what Disney's lawyers are stating. No one, not even GOP members had an issue with anything Disney (especially knowing the revenue they know that comes into the state because of Disney), until Disney made comments going against DeSantis' racist bills.
I’m only surprised it took them this long to sue… DeSantis has admitted on numerous occasions that this is all political retribution, so the case should be a slam dunk.
@@notpocky9806 heavens no, I mean the folks who work at Disney and the support services folks. It's never the politicians. They always make the decisions and other people bear the consequences.
Not a chance. Disney don't know who they're messing with. Maybe they should cleanup their own house before worrying about DeSantis. They're a dumpster fire.
Here's an idea: Disney doesn’t have to leave Florida to make a point; instead, they furlough workers and close the park for 2-3 months. Unemployment for over 400,000 people, plus no hotel taxes being collected. Not to mention all of the businesses being supported by Disney from fast food restaurants to toll collection; the coup de grace comes January 2024 when the state recoups lower taxes because if Disney didn’t make money for those months they wouldn’t be taxed for those months. Just this closure would damage Florida severely.
It's interesting to me because if and when this case ends up at SCOTUS, they will have to either uphold the Citizens United precedent (that corporations have the same rights as individuals) or rule against Disney and throw it out. Either way it's a win.
A fable; An old snake was laying in the sun, waiting like usual for some hapless naive tasty mouse to come hopping along, and then "wham!", the ambush predator would strike with lightning speed! Just like thousands of times before. As the years went by the ever confident snake grew tired, older, slower, and his eyesight was never too good to start with, but his fangs were still sharp. One day a new mouse came along. A LARGE mouse. Mr. snake had never seen such a large magnificent mouse before! "WOW"! he thinks to himself, "Not only will I satisfy my stomach, but also my ego for taking down this huge massive mouse". So, "Wham", he strikes! An incredible life or death battle takes place! The old snake gets the whole length of his azz whippped! Out of breath, bruised, bloody, broken and dying, he speaks to the great mouse; "Mr. Mouse, Sir, that was one hell of a fight! You have defeated me. Before I die, I want you to know that you are the most magnificent mouse I have ever met". Then came the last words the old snake ever heard; "Who are you calling a 'mouse', you blind old moron? I am a mongoose"! The End
Nah, he's the kind of petulant child that toss the gameboard over and kicks the other person's playing piece all over before stomping them into the dirt.
?? Seriously folks, just how obnoxious and greedy is the Disney CEO and the shareholders, to think they are an untouchable state within Florida, (like the divine Pope in Vatican City,) and that Disney will simply pay taxes if and when they choose. (I am unaware of any company in America that has the legal right to operate its own government or maintain special privileges not held by other businesses in the country.) Disney needs to be reminded they are not above following the rules like everyone else and just because they have gotten away with not paying their share of taxes, for decades, doesn't make it acceptable business practice.
My bets for the winner are with Disney, as DeSantis has bitten off much more than he can chew. His childish vindictive behavior will bite him in the rear.
The demon DeSantis forgot what his party stands for. Such a little man. I wish Disney will do civil lawsuit against his personal asset for potential or past financial loss.
You never pick a fight with Disney, never. Their company and army of lawyers are just too much for damn near anyone to handle, and what's more, Disney ALWAYS sticks within the law so that one can't try and sue them.
So here is the "pro-business" and "freedom" party throwing a hissy fit and interfering with both business and freedom. So what are their priorities, really? Simple: They, themselves, their best interests, and their humongous egos...always.
Oh dear. Citizens United in play here. Disney says DeSantos is violating its constitutional rights. I do not support CU and think it needs to be repealed, but its use here is interesting.
When fascists make any law, the anti-fascist who is wise uses that law to undermine and defeat them. Since citizens united is a law, we must use this as a template for using corporations against the fascists.
@@primuskuhl What are you talking about? Explain yourself or simply prove yourself incapable of having an adult conversation. We don't need more cretins joining the conversation.
How does this help Florida? I thought DeSantis was alright until this nonsense fight happened. I won't be voting for this man in the next election. Focus on problems that Floridians actually care about!
I don't think Rona DeSatan understands that if Disney were to pack up ALL of it's businesses and move to another state Orlando would become a ghost town. Property value would drop homes there would become almost worthless, small shops and businesses that depend on Disney would be forced to close down ... all because some Bully didn't get his way. Rona DeSatan .. your mother and father should be ashamed of what they brought into this world. I hope his family never has a moments peace because of him. ( JUST MY OPINION )
And what is the chances of that happening??? Where would they go? And you couldn't even guess at how much money it would cost to move. Today's price of land has got to make it near impossible.
Nah they'll lose billions. Looks like Disney is trying the Putin method when they could have just made peace. Good luck losing billions. Disney already lost $90 billion so what's another billion right.
I came to this video, not to watch it (I already know enough), but to complain. DeSantis is making me side with a company I despise, and that makes me angry. He needs to be removed from office and never allowed into politics again.
I operate my business right here in orange county! I'm an actual fan of desantis! But he is going to learn a hard lesson about mickey mouse and his lawyers!!! There like 55-0 in this state.
