Human Events Daily host Jack Posobiec praised Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, after the state leader moved forward with their attack on Disney.
Yesterday, the Florida Senate passed Gov. DeSantis' congressional map, which will see the creation of four new GOP-leaning districts, and remove Disney's self-governing power and special exempt status. This would also remove three districts held by Democrats.
DeSantis asked lawmakers on Tuesday to consider eliminating the special taxing district that allows Disney to act as its own form of local government.
He said that lawmakers would be "considering termination of all special districts that were enacted in Florida prior to 1968, and that includes the Reedy Creek Improvement District."
The Reedy Creek Improvement District near Orlando allows Disney to be protected from local government regulations and property taxes.
"I absolutely love this story because it shows that conservatives are finally stepping up and understanding how the game is played," said Posobiec.
"He called a special session to dismantle special protections for Disney, operating in Florida, following the company's opposition to the Parental Rights bill, which we have dubbed the anti-grooming bill."
DeSantis stated on Wednesday, "I am announcing today that we are expanding the call of what they're going to be considering. Yes they will consider the congressional map, but they will also consider termination of all special districts that were enacted in Florida prior to 1968 and that includes the Reedy Creek improvement district."
"What does this all mean?" asked Posobiec. "This is a 55-year old state law, that allows Disney to effectively govern itself on the ground of Walt Disney World. DeSantis said, 'what would I say as a matter of first principle, is that I don't support special privileges in the law, just because a company is powerful and they've been able to wield a lot of power.' I think that what's happened is that a lot of special privileges that are not just viable, but because Disney has held so much sway, they were able to sustain a lot of special treatment over the years.
"The Reedy Creek Improvement Act was signed into law in May of 1967, by governor Claude Kirk in response to lobbying effort by Disney. The entertainment giant proposed building a recreation-oriented development on 25,000 acres of property in a remote area of central Florida's orange and Osceola counties, which consisted of 38.5 square miles of largely uninhabited pasture and swampland," he continued.
Posobiec noted that "they did not have those counties, the services, or resources needed to bring a project to life, so the state legislature knowing that Disney would be a major cash cow and a major national and international draw for tourism, worked with Disney to establish this special taxing district that allows the company to act with the same authority and responsibility as a county government."
"Disney, of course, has been getting into this with Republicans in Florida over the bill recently signed by DeSantis, which prohibits grooming and classroom instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity with young children in classrooms. Disney, of course, has been attacking this," he said.
Posobiec highlighted that recent polling indicates that the Parental Rights in Education bill is "extremely popular among Florida voters," including 52 percent of likely voters in the Democratic primary, who say they oppose the kind of teaching that the bill prohibits.
"What it's saying is that 52 percent of Democrats even support the bill.
So what does this mean? Disney, if they want to continue bracing woke ideology, it seems fitting that they should be regulated by the government, the same way as everyone else," said Posobiec.
"Here's what it comes down to, folks. Companies do not rule us. And this has been a problem for the conservative movement for a long, long time. They've allowed themselves to be co-opted by woke corporations, and they'll sit back and say things like, 'well, you know, companies can do whatever they want. Free business, free enterprise, that's what I'm all about, companies can do whatever they want.' No, that's not how it works. Walt Disney world exists in Florida at the invitation of the government of Florida and the people of Florida," he said.
"They get to be there because the people allow it. And the elected representatives of those people are then able to set laws that determine how their state is run. So just because some corporation has quasi governmental status, that doesn't mean that they get to dictate the laws of the state of Florida. That is not how our system works, and was never how our system was supposed to work.
"We have a representative government... a constitutional republic, and we have the idea of federalism, that means the local power stays with the local officials, because they are closest to the people.
"I honestly could not praise more highly Governor DeSantis for turning this entire notion on its head, and for embracing populism. Standing up for the people against woke companies like Disney World, when he knows, by the way... Disney is obviously one of the most powerful media companies and conglomerates in the world. They can do a whole lot against him. But he is waging this political battle with them, because he knows he's in the right," Posobiec concluded.
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