How Florida’s Disney-Loving Corporate Welfare Helped Crush Real Market Freedom
22nd April 2022
The impending change in status comes after senior Disney representatives repeatedly criticized the GOP in Florida—currently the ruling party in the state—for legislation that had nothing to do with Disney’s ability to do business in the state. Perhaps not surprisingly, this caused numerous GOP officials to question why Disney was receiving special privileges denied even to Disney’s direct competitors. In the past, Disney would normally be shielded from dangers to its special status, as Disney has famously showered politicians in the state with gifts and campaign cash and other types of special favors that normal people would identify as bribes. Many of the same people who are now voting to repeal Disney’s special status have accepted such “gifts” in the past. But for whatever reason, the political landscape has changed enough in recent years that it appears to many policymakers that it is now more politically rewarding to punish Disney rather than cater to its whims. The effort to strike back at Disney was likely also fueled by national politics and the fact that Disney has long been a platform for leftwing politics through its media outlets like ABC and ESPN.
This special status was granted under a Democrat administration and would to this day not be in question if Disney had simply avoided messing with the bull.