Yesterday, the Republican controlled Florida legislature voted to strip the Disney corporation
of their self-governing charter that has been in place since 1967. So we're talking about
for more than half a century Disney down there in central Florida has basically been able to govern
themselves. They've been able to collect taxes. They're the ones that maintain the infrastructure
in that area because of the taxes they collect. They're the ones that get to build what they wanna
build without having to go through. And of course, they're the ones who pay massive taxes into the
state for this privilege. Well, Ron DeSantis and the Republicans in the state are furious that
Disney called them out over their don't say gay legislation. So they've decided to punish Disney,
which isn't actually a punishment at all. Here's the thing. Disney is a multi-billion,
multi-national corporation that is not gonna be harmed by anything these Republicans can do.
Let's be clear about that first and foremost. Disney gonna be just fine.
Disney's gonna do just as well as they always have.
It's the people that live in those areas now that this Reedy Creek charter has been revoked,
it's officially revoked as of June of next year. So they got a year. It's the people that live in
that area, what this new district is going to be, they're the ones who are getting screwed.
This doesn't hurt Disney at all. This almost helps Disney save money. Do you know why?
Because now Disney is no longer on the hook for maintaining those roads, for maintaining
the public infrastructure. All of that cost now shifts onto the taxpayers in those areas.
It shifts onto the local governments where they have not had to spend money on those things in
the past because Disney spent it. Now the localities are going to have to spend it,
which means there's less money to go around for other projects.
I don't know if you've ever driven through Disney World, but if you go on the interstates outside
of it, you know, the ones that are maintained by the cities, they're constantly under construction.
They're constantly falling apart due to all the wear and tear from the millions of people that
go to Disney a year, 58 million. Um, it's rough. Once you get on Disney property, those roads are
the most beautiful roads you've ever seen. Not a pothole in sight, not a dent, not a divot, nothing
because Disney maintains those as part of their charter. Well, now they don't have to do that.
Now the cities do. They have to pay for that. Disney gets to actually save that money.
This isn't a punishment for Disney. This is a punishment for those taxpayers.
But of course, DeSantis and the Republicans actually know this. They're just banking on
the public not understanding how all of that works. And even if the public did understand it,
they don't care because that actually happens to be a very liberal part of this conservative state.
So the people of course, who get screwed over are the Democrats here in Florida,
which I guess serves as a bit of a double whammy bonus for the idiot authoritarian Republicans
who can't stand a corporation that disagrees with them on one thing, one time.
Disney's gonna be fine. Hell, if Disney wanted to, they've got enough money, they could fund
all of the challengers to everybody running for state office here. They could easily make a change
of government if they actually wanted to. And even when they're, you know, they can't build whatever
they want to anymore, they have to get approval from the cities and the counties. Do you know what
they're gonna do? They're gonna donate a lot of money to those politicians and they're gonna get
whatever the hell they want. Nothing is going to change for Disney, except they might actually save
a little bit of money. DeSantis did them a favor by screwing over all the taxpayers in that area.