Independent Audit Blasts Disney For Pulling ‘Bait And Switch’ On Florida: ‘A Mousetrap’

[john7994]

Are you saying you’ve always been against cancel culture? And spoke out against it whenever it happened?

I am not a culture warrior - Never felt the need to be for or against it - but to my original point which you always like to avoid because it’s uncomfortable - hypocrisy is still what it is and pretty easy to smell - regardless where the stench comes from. I don’t need a tribe to tell me what stinks …

 

[Cannot_Wait_4Disney]

Yes, Disney should just give up their lunch money and they won’t get hurt … isn’t that what the “staying in their own lane” position is really about?

Yup. And it only applies to people and companies that say things they don't like.
LeBron Shut up and dribble.
Disney. Stop meddling you darn kids!!!
Taylor Swift. She's dangerous And her boyfriend, who makes a living bashing people and being bashed, is a beta.
Jason Aldean. why that's just a real American that speaks his mind.
Rules for thee but not for me.

Except Disney wasn’t standing up for itself. That would be understandable. Instead it meddled in a matter that had nothing to do with its interests.

This started a long time ago. It's absolutely nothing new. And Disney was dragged into it by the same forces of bigotry 30 years ago that are dragging them into it today. And they were dragged into it then because of an unsanctioned event that was none of Disney's doing. Gay Days. Who meddled in a matter that had nothing to do with their interests and wasn't even Disney's doing? Hint. It wasn't Disney. The Southern Baptists, along with Jimmy the Sex machine Swaggart's bunch boycotted along with the AFA. This was in the 90s. And they got boycotted again when they gave gay employees benefits. I mean who should care whether or not Gay people go to Disney or what Disney employee benefits are? You clearly have a double standard when it comes to meddling in a matter one has nothing to do with.

Florida didn’t take action against Disney. They changed the way Reedy Creek, a supposedly independent district, operated.

This post makes me hungry for Burger King. It's a real whopper.

 

[Douglas Dubh]

Actually, I don't think anyone is saying Disney HAD to speak out to support their employees. They CHOSE to speak out, because their employees wanted them to.

Again, because some of its employees, perhaps a vocal minority, wanted it to.

 

[Douglas Dubh]

I am not a culture warrior - Never felt the need to be for or against it - but to my original point which you always like to avoid because it’s uncomfortable - hypocrisy is still what it is and pretty easy to smell - regardless where the stench comes from. I don’t need a tribe to tell me what stinks …

There’s apparently plenty of hypocrisy on both sides.

 

[HokieRaven5]

Again, because some of its employees, perhaps a vocal minority, wanted it to.

Doesn’t matter how many it was.

They chose to speak out, and the court of public opinion can hold them accountable or not for the statement.

 

[sam_gordon]

Again, because some of its employees, perhaps a vocal minority, wanted it to.

So? They still CHOSE to speak out, which wasn't what you said.

 

[bcla]

Not sure how you get from next door to the moon. But everything Disney did was legal and sanctioned by the state of Florida and was operating well without harming anyone and benefited the taxpayers as Disney was basically footing the bill. What changed? I don’t think that the present government in Florida is capable of analyzing this or cares to do so from an economic perspective

Over the years there have been complaints when Disney asked for reassessments on their property values, but then again that's pretty common by businesses. However, I remember seeing someone on DISBoards complaining mightily about it given the way Florida property taxes work, where the "millage rate" is adjusted every year to meet an anticipated budget. So if any assessment goes down, that will necessarily increase the property taxes of other taxpayers.

But Disney had a unique arrangement with Reedy Creek ID that other special districts didn't have. I know The Villages has been mentioned many times, but property in their special districts is mostly owned by individuals. This special district budget is set and basically only Disney pays for it, so their reassessments don't affect how much they pay overall for the operation of the special district.

The unique aspect of WDW is obviously that they aren't like most county taxpayers that use county (or city) services paid for with property tax revenue paid for by a wide swath of personal and business property taxes. The vast majority of those services are provided by the special district, so the money that Disney pays for county/library/school taxes aren't really going back to Disney in any appreciable manner. Even the police services they receive from the county sheriffs are paid for as a contract service with the special district, so county taxpayers aren't on the hook for that. This is clearly a net benefit for county taxpayers with a willing taxpayer paying money that they're not getting back in the form of services.

I guess the thing that some find troubling is that the taxpayer in the this case basically has no representation on the board. And it's pretty clear that meant to consolidate the power of the board with one person deciding on that. This is the kind of thing that few people would stand for in their own lives, but are OK with if it punishes someone else that they disagree with.

 

[Douglas Dubh]

So? They still CHOSE to speak out, which wasn't what you said.

I never claimed Disney had no choice.

 

[bcla]

So? They still CHOSE to speak out, which wasn't what you said.

The gist I get is "Stay in your lane unless I agree with what you say."

 

[Douglas Dubh]

This is clearly a net benefit for county taxpayers with a willing taxpayer paying money that they're not getting back in the form of services.

I’m not sure that it is that clear.

 

[john7994]

There’s apparently plenty of hypocrisy on both sides.

What did I just say - of course there is but I don’t feel the need to employ Alinsky’s rule #4 as you do because I don’t look at fellow Americans (regardless of what they believe) as enemies.

 

[john7994]

How can someone be so obtuse and oblivious, troll behavior

To be fair, He’s already said that he’s not a troll and his job is to push back against the “echo chamber” - and if you don’t like what he does - he recommends that you don’t need to post your opinions.

 

[sam_gordon]

I never claimed Disney had no choice.

How soon they forget (bolding mine)...

It does when people keep saying Disney had to speak out to support their employees. That may be true or it may not.

And no, no one (but you) said Disney HAD to speak out.

 

[Douglas Dubh]

What did I just say - of course there is but I don’t feel the need to employ Alinsky’s rule #4 as you do because I don’t look at fellow Americans (regardless of what they believe) as enemies.

Then why are you projecting that on me? I think you protest too much.

 

[Douglas Dubh]

How soon they forget (bolding mine)...

And no, no one (but you) said Disney HAD to speak out.

So we’re in agreement that there was no reason Disney had to speak out? Good.

 

[sam_gordon]

So we’re in agreement that there was no reason Disney had to speak out? Good.

Yup. Never denied that.
And we're in agreement that they had the right to speak out, without Government repercussions? Good.

 

[john7994]

Then why are you projecting that on me? I think you protest too much.

Because your argumentative style and talking points are hypocritical? My wife thinks that I protest too much when I don’t want to do the dishes - so I can’t argue it’s possible …

 

[Douglas Dubh]

Because your argumentative style and talking points are hypocritical? My wife thinks that I protest too much when I don’t want to do the dishes - so I can’t argue it’s possible …

I’m just responding to what others post.

 

[Kwami]

I’m just responding to what others post.

Except for when it's inconvenient for your worldview, such as my previous post. As always.

 

[bcla]

I’m not sure that it is that clear.

How so? It's pretty clear that the area covered by the special district pays for pretty much everything that a city and/or county would provide, on top of Disney paying normal county ad valorem taxes.

What county services do you suppose they use that aren't paid for with special district funds? Maybe some building permits (where the county still has some responsibilities), but not police, roads, sewage, fire.

Are you doing this just to be contrarian? It's just ludicrous that you can't even acknowledge something this simple.