DeSantis is right to oppose government subsidies for Disney


Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis‘ feud with Disney shows no signs of slowing down. They’ve been locking horns ever since the entertainment company publicly opposed a state law banning classroom discussion of sexuality and gender identity in younger school grades. DeSantis said that opposition went too far.

After Disney canceled a $1 billion development project in central Florida, DeSantis says there’s “zero” chance he will back down.

Straight Arrow News contributor Timothy Carney thinks the newest Republican presidential contender should use his beef with Disney to send a broader message that government favors for businesses are never acceptable.

It’s a twisting tale of corporate welfare, culture war and political power. An entertaining place to begin is back in 2010, when Democrats cried that corporate political speech was a dire threat to democracy. In the case Citizens United [v. Federal Election Commission], the Supreme Court struck down federal laws that limited corporations’ ability to participate in the political debate. This victory for free speech was portrayed as a cynical ploy by Republicans who everyone knows are more in line with corporate America, right? Wrong. Big business isn’t conservative. The biggest businesses don’t want free enterprise, and they certainly don’t like traditional morality. Disney’s recent battles show this clearly.

In the past few years, teachers’ unions and liberal activists have succeeded at changing the way public schools teach and deal with sex, gender, and sexuality. One result is a flood of inappropriate material being taught to young kids. Another is relentless activism by teachers who advanced their own radical ideas about sex and gender. Often the teachers and activists are explicit that their goal is to tear children away from the morality and worldview of their parents.

To combat this campaign, DeSantis and the Republican legislature passed a new law prohibiting culture war proselytizing in the classroom, and barring age-inappropriate sex ed teaching. The media and the activist community disliked this law and spoke out against it. Any corporation that didn’t instantly join the Left was warned that it would suffer if it didn’t speak up. Disney responded to this pressure campaign and came out against the sex ed bill. That action caused Republicans, including DeSantis, to take away some of Disney’s more outrageous corporate welfare.