What the hell

[liberty]

What the Hell's going on here? Corporations are not sovereign governments; they are creatures of the state. The state made and can control them. What privileges may be given to a corporation can be taken away. This should not be allowed to stand; this is a bad precedent. A corporation has no power to control the people on its land; that power belongs to the state.

Name another corporation in this country that has police power.
I should amend this to say for-profit corporations; after all, there are municipal corporations and nonprofit corporations that do charitable work.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/travel/news/f ... 3d70&ei=35
Florida insiders react with shock, amusement, and dread after Disney outmaneuvers DeSantis to keep most of its power
Story by kleonard@insider.com (Kimberly Leonard) • 4h ago

It appears Walt Disney World won't be losing power over its land after all — at least not yet — following a high-profile battle with Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida.

More than a month after DeSantis appointed a board to control the resort and theme park's decision making, a report by the Orlando Sentinel revealed that Disney lawyers wrote in an arrangement that keeps the company in power of its land virtually in perpetuity.

Despite Disney's formidable lobbying track record, the quiet arrangement to keep its power astonished and amused many political insiders.

"This must have really been ticklish for those attorneys to wonder when it was going to be discovered," Richard Foglesong, author of the book "Married to the Mouse: Walt Disney World and Orlando," told Insider. "I bet there were a lot of tee hee hee moments among them."

The governor tried to unravel Disney's special privileges that many other businesses don't have, including rival theme parks such as Sea World and Universal Studios. While those parks must run their plans by zoning commissions or building inspection departments, Disney does not. This makes their operations run more efficiently, saving them time and money, Foglesong explained.

But DeSantis' highly publicized plan seems to have collapsed.

"It was a pretty brilliant move by the outgoing board to basically take all the power away," one Florida-based lobbyist, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told Insider. "Everybody that I talked to about it kind of chuckled about it. They thought it was funny."

Dozens of lobbyists didn't respond to Insider's requests for an interview or declined to comment, and a couple expressed concerns about discussing the DeSantis-Disney feud at all, out of fear of retaliation over a subject that has become highly charged.

Besides having an in-house government relations team, Disney also contracts with several lobbying firms — including the Southern Group, GrayRobinson, and the Vogel Group. Such firms have contracts with numerous other clients that have business before the governor, according to the state's lobbying disclosure database.


It's not yet clear how DeSantis might try to punish Disney for bypassing what has become a central talking point for the governor to show that he's unafraid to go up against powerful corporations who publicly disagree with his policies.

The resort and theme park has long been a powerhouse in the Sunshine State, bringing tax dollars, tourists, and jobs to central Florida. Foglesong described Disney's fight with DeSantis as the biggest hurdle the company has ever faced in Florida, saying, "If 10 is the highest, this is a 10."

Untangling the legalities of the dispute could take years and become an expensive endeavor, the Orlando Sentinel reported. Senate president Kathleen Passidomo told reporters Thursday evening that she didn't expect the legislature to make any changes to the law in the near term.

"We're going to take a look at it," she said. "I'm sure to see what they actually did."

The governor's appointees to the board overseeing Disney have said they're consulting with four different law firms, according to the Orlando Sentinel. Taryn Fenske, spokeswoman for the governor, said the agreement Disney brokered "may have significant legal infirmities that would render the contracts void as a matter of law."

But the matter appears far from settled, and it's not clear how DeSantis will retaliate a third time. The governor is known for using the arm of the state to achieve his goals in ways that other conservatives have criticized. Among those critics is former Vice President Mike Pence, who, like DeSantis, is a potential 2024 Republican presidential candidate.

While doing a book tour in Georgia on Thursday, DeSantis vowed "there's more to come" regarding the Disney feud. Shortly after, Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody demanded texts and emails about the February 8 meeting that sealed the deal for Disney to retain control over much of its land.

"Who knows what they might come up with creatively to make Disney's life miserable?" Aubrey Jewett, a political science professor at the University of Central Florida who co-authored the book "Politics in Florida," told Insider.

"If I have seen anything from this governor and the Republican legislature, it's that they go after perceived enemies, and they go after them in a big way," he continued. "I won't be surprised if other things happen."

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks to a crowd at Adventure Outdoors gun store, Thursday, March 30, 2023, in Smyrna, Georgia. John Bazemore/AP Photo
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks to a crowd at Adventure Outdoors gun store, Thursday, March 30, 2023, in Smyrna, Georgia. John

DeSantis has often invoked his battle with Disney when doing appearances across the US to promote his new book, "The Courage to Be Free: Florida's Blueprint for America's Revival." It's a story that has thrilled supporters, who boo at the mention of Disney's name and laugh as DeSantis scoffs over the irony that, almost 14 years ago, he married his wife, Casey DeSantis, at Disney World.

The promotional book tour is widely viewed as a soft campaign to lay the groundwork for an official 2024 presidential run, one that would pit DeSantis against former President Donald Trump.

In recent weeks the governor has taken a plunge in national polling about a hypothetical 2024 matchup while Trump has expanded his lead. The former president has benefited from the rally-around GOP support related to his indictment by the Manhattan district attorney, and has also relentlessly criticized DeSantis.

To many observers, DeSantis had appeared unstoppable, notching numerous political wins in Florida and getting the type of donor treatment enjoyed by political frontrunners.

"It shows that maybe he's not invincible," Jewett said of DeSantis' recent struggles. "He has and is going to make political mistakes. It weakens him, in the short run."

DeSantis has worked with the legislature twice to retaliate against Disney. First he signed a bill into law in April 2022 to dissolve the Reedy Creek district. But when it was revealed the measure could have resulted in residents taking on a sizeable amount of debt through higher taxes, the legislature sent DeSantis a new bill in February 2023 during a special session that would allow the governor to appoint a board to control the district.

But before that happened, Disney quietly brokered the agreement to maintain control. The company told Insider in a statement that it was "discussed and approved in open, noticed public forums." In what also appeared to be a slight, Disney World announced it would host the Out & Equal Workplace Summit in September, billing it as the "largest LGBTQ+ conference in the world."

Before this week, Democratic state lawmakers predicted Disney would sue and then ride out DeSantis' time in Tallahassee. Jewett expected Disney to let the matter go and to try to repair the relationship.

"In retrospect," he told Insider, "I feel like I should have expected that Disney was going to do something and that they wouldn't just let 50 years of control go."

Not only did it not let go of control, but the company tapped into its flair for the dramatic. To win this round, it invoked an obscure property law about King Charles III.

Using a royal clause was all very Disney, Foglesong said.

"They can't go to the mat in a mean kind of way," he said. "They have to be entertaining, and I think they will be. Because this is not just a legal fight, it's about public relations, too."

[Scooter]

DeSantis has been outsmarted by Mickey Mouse.

If you believe that "A corporation has no power to control the people on its land", then explain HOAs, to cite one example.

[BoSoxGal]

I am watching this story unfold with great amusement. Clearly Disney has some excellent lawyers. I am guessing that the cream of the Florida AG’s office might not be quite so clever, but the state can always seek assistance of outside counsel and likely will.

[Burning Petard]

As Always, it depends on just whose ox is gored. I feel confident Mr. Liberty is firmly convinced the state cannot enter his property without his permission or a warrant. A corporation is a fictional person, yet still a person. From many points of view, the state is also fictional, only existing by the will of the people. I think we have abandoned 'the divine right of Kings."

A battle of wits between competing Esquires is always entertaining, until one side retires to make room for the 101st Airborne, with bayonets.

snailgate

[Sue U]

What the Hell's going on here? Corporations are not sovereign governments; they are creatures of the state. The state made and can control them. What privileges may be given to a corporation can be taken away. This should not be allowed to stand; this is a bad precedent. A corporation has no power to control the people on its land; that power belongs to the state.

Why do you hate private property, freedom of contract and capitalism? Why do you want to make business owners slaves of the state? You are a communist and should be put down.

[ex-khobar Andy]

Corporations are people these days: just ask the folks at Citizens United.

It's difficult to know who to side with when Disney is fighting the elected representatives. But I'll make an exception in this case where I think DeSantis is the greater evil. And when it suited Florida - in the 1960s - they gave Disney carte blanche to run the Disney World area essentially like a local government. Florida gave up control of an area of sawgrass and alligators and got massive investment and jobs and tourist dollars in exchange. I'm no fan of Disney but it seems to me that they have more or less kept their side of the bargain.

[liberty]

What the Hell's going on here? Corporations are not sovereign governments; they are creatures of the state. The state made and can control them. What privileges may be given to a corporation can be taken away. This should not be allowed to stand; this is a bad precedent. A corporation has no power to control the people on its land; that power belongs to the state.

Why do you hate private property, freedom of contract and capitalism? Why do you want to make business owners slaves of the state? You are a communist and should be put down.

Unlike you, sue, I do believe in the right to private property, and unlike you, I do think people have the right to protect their property, but I also believe in the power of the people. My people are not a mob rioting and destroying the property of others; they are the people of a state. The people are the state, and the people running the government in their capital it's just their employees. However, the people are supreme in the state; no corporation, which is just a collection of individuals, has the power of the people. The state, through their government, can do anything they wish as long as it's not prohibited by their constitution or the US Constitution. So, they can if want to remove some corporations' special privileges.

My principles have nothing to do with whose ox is being gored. They apply to everyone. But that is not the case on the left side of the political spectrum. Leftists believe what benefits them is good, and what helps others doesn't matter. Sheila Jackson Lee threatens to take people's property. That is the leftist mentality; taking what you want right and wrong don't matter. I believe the time will come when the left will outlaw Christianity, seize the property of Christians, and deny them due process of law.

[Bicycle Bill]

You're seeing a whole TEAM of psychiatrists, aren't you?

-"BB"-

[Burning Petard]

Right on Liberty. Christianity needs to be outlawed. Just imagine: "Give all that you have to the poor." How absurd. There oughta be a law. . . .

Happy Easter.

snailgate.

[MajGenl.Meade]

I believe the time will come when the left will outlaw Christianity, seize the property of Christians, and deny them due process of law.

And what else have the Romans ever done for us?

[Sue U]

The state, through their government, can do anything they wish as long as it's not prohibited by their constitution or the US Constitution. So, they can if want to remove some corporations' special privileges.

Your second sentence here contradicts the first, since the the constitution of the United States does in fact prohibit it. See Citizens United v. FEC, 558 US 310 (2010). As Mitt Romney (R, in case you forgot) put it, "Corporations are people too, my friend."

I believe the time will come when the left will outlaw Christianity, seize the property of Christians, and deny them due process of law.

To be fair, your belief in all kinds of idiocy is well documented on this BBS.