20 people. Yes, a solution in search of a problem!

 

Former Disney CEO privately complained to DeSantis about 'pressure' from woke left amid Florida fight: book
'He did not want Disney to get involved, but he was getting a lot of pressure to weigh in against the bill,' DeSantis writes


As the showdown between Florida's legislature and The Walt Disney Company heated up over an education bill that liberal activists incorrectly labeled the "Don't say gay bill," Disney's then-CEO called Gov. Ron DeSantis and complained about the "pressure" he faced.

DeSantis recounts the conversation in a chapter of his new memoir, "The Courage to be Free: Florida's Blueprint for American Revival," which will be released Tuesday by publisher HarperCollins. The chapter, shared exclusively with Fox News Digital, reveals what Bob Chapek, who was Disney CEO at the time, told DeSantis as the fight over Florida's education law heated up in the spring of 2022.

"As the controversy over the Parental Rights in Education bill was coming to a head, Chapek called me. He did not want Disney to get involved, but he was getting a lot of pressure to weigh in against the bill," DeSantis writes.

"We get pressured all the time," Chapek told DeSantis, according to the governor's book. "But this time is different. I haven’t seen anything like this before."


DeSantis recounts in his memoir, "The Courage to be Free," what happened behind the scenes in the fight with Disney. (HarperCollins | Joseph Prezioso / Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

Chapek told shareholders that he had called DeSantis on March 9 to urge him not to sign the bill, which restricts schools from teaching gender and sexuality to children in kindergarten through third grade. Activists nicknamed it the "Don't say gay bill" despite the legislation not using those terms.

"I called Gov. DeSantis this morning to express our disappointment and concern that if the legislation becomes law, it could be used to unfairly target gay, lesbian, non-binary and transgender kids and families," Chapek said, according to FOX 35 Orlando.

According to a report from the New York Post, Chapek had privately expressed his hesitancy to involve his company in the political issues in Florida, the home of Disney World, in the months prior. But the pressure campaign within Disney and from Democrats nationwide ultimately convinced him take a stand

DeSantis, however, issued a warning: If Disney got involved with the legislation, "People like me will say, ‘Gee, how come Disney has never said anything about China, where they make a fortune?’" DeSantis told Chapek.

The Florida governor said if Disney stayed out of the politics, Disney would face 48 hours of outrage when the bill passed. "[And] when I sign it, you will get another 48 hours of outrage, mostly online,'" DeSantis said, adding, "Then there will be some new outrage that the woke mob will focus on and people will forget about this issue, especially considering the outrage is directed at a political-media narrative, not the actual text of the legislation itself."

DeSantis wrote that Chapek and Disney "ultimately caved to leftist media and activist pressure and pressed the false narrative against the bill."


Bob Chapek, then-CEO of Disney, speaks during the opening ceremony of the Invictus Games Orlando 2016. (Chris Jackson / Getty Images for Invictus / File)

After the bill passed and DeSantis signed it into law, the governor was surprised that Disney chose to "escalate the battle" by vowing to fight the legislation in the courts. DeSantis signaled publicly that he would be willing to reevaluate Disney's special tax district and favorable corporate agreements due to their insistence on "woke" political activism.

Other reports showed that Disney had been pushing messages that conservatives blasted as "woke" — like enforcing gender and sexuality messages in movies and television shows. A show producer reportedly said on a leaked Disney staff call that she had a "not-at-all secret gay agenda" and had been "adding queerness" to kid's programming.

"Behind the scenes, I was not, as a father of children ages five, four, and two, comfortable with the continuation of Disney’s special arrangement," DeSantis wrote in his memoir. "While the Walt Disney Company and its executives had a right to indulge in woke activism, Florida did not have to place the company on a pedestal while they do so—especially when the company’s activism impacted the rights of parents and the well-being of children."

As Florida moved to strip Disney of its Reedy Creek district and revoke the company's self-governing status, DeSantis was surprised to see left-wing voices side with a large corporation.

"Even though Democrats often rail about the nefarious power exerted over politics by large corporations, and supposedly oppose special carveouts for big companies, they all dutifully lined up in support of keeping Disney’s special self-governing status," he wrote.



Chapek left Disney late in 2022, replaced by his predecessor, Bob Iger, who first left Disney in 2020. At a Disney town hall in November, Iger told the company, "Do I like the company being embroiled in controversy? Of course not. It can be distracting, and it can have a negative impact on the company. And to the extent that I can work to kind of quiet things down, I’m going to do that."

The lesson of the Disney saga, according to DeSantis, is that in an environment of "woke capital" where large companies employ their influence to advance left-wing political agendas, "old-guard corporate Republicanism is not up to the task at hand."

DeSantis' book aims to showcase his governing thesis that fighting for conservative principles paid off for Florida and could benefit other states and even the whole country. As a rumored 2024 presidential hopeful, DeSantis has led former President Donald Trump in a few early primary polls. He has not announced whether he will run.

 

According to Robert Reich, DeSantis wants to defund Social Security and Medicare, and replace the income tax with a national sales tax. Sales taxes are regressive. A national sales tax would cut taxes for the rich, and raise taxes on working class and lower middle class people.

DeSantis rarely talks about this, however. Republicans win elections with social issues. When they become powerful they pursue policies that make the rich richer at the expense of everyone else.

Democrats make this easy for the GOP by advocating policies like easing restrictions on immigration, sanctuary cities, racial reparations, reducing the likelihood and severity of punishment for criminals, and so on.

 

Wow, that disingenuous!! Trump does business in China! His daughter does business in China! It might even be that Elon does more business in China than he does in the US...

Faux outrage!

 

The people of Florida obviously think that DeSantis is doing a decent job. In 2018 he barely won the election. If memory serves me correct he only won by 33,000 votes. In 2022, he won the election by 1,500,000 votes.

In 2022, only 5 counties out of Florida's 67 counties, voted Democrat in the gubernatorial election. Even Miami Dade county flipped red as well as Hillsborough, Pinellas, and several others. Apparently most Floridians are ok with the direction he is taking the state.

 

Raising the question, how much business does the Biden crime syndicate do in China?
Or for that matter, the Pelosi crime syndicate?

 

I love the smell of treasonous conservative/America Hating/Republican cannibalism in the morning. And the pots are on high boil.

Jeb Bush's endorsement of DeSantis just backfired big time

Matthew Chapman
February 27, 2023



Former Florida Republican Governor Jeb Bush speaks at the 2014 National Summit on Education Reform in Washington, DC on Nov. 20, 2014 (AFP)


Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush came out over the weekend with a presidential endorsement video for Ron DeSantis, the man currently in his former office.

The endorsement came even though DeSantis has not yet announced a run for president challenging Donald Trump in 2024, but has continually made staffing moves and public comments indicating he is considering it.

That endorsement is likely to blow up in DeSantis' face, wrote Jerry Wilson for the right-wing blog Red State on Monday.

"Remember that Bush was one of the, if not the, leading candidate for the 2016 Republican Presidential nomination pre-Trump," wrote Wilson. "Bush was, and remains, revered by the GOP old guard. His NeverTrump credentials are unquestionable. However, the few NeverTrumpers remaining despise DeSantis with as much, if not more, fervor than Trump. To have one of their patron saints praise DeSantis must be inducing large-scale wailing and gnashing of teeth."

READ MORE: Trump has a money problem in New York: 'More people see him, the worse he looks'

The problem, wrote Wilson, is that Bush is part of a network of past-their-prime, anti-Trump Republicans who are "anathema" to the sort of right-wing base voters DeSantis needs to persuade to abandon Trump for him.

"The only less desirable endorsements would be from Mitch McConnell, Lindsey Graham, and Paul Ryan," wrote Wilson. "Include Liz Cheney as well."

"Since DeSantis has yet to announce if he will run in 2024, his present course of openly ignoring Trump’s attacks against him has no pitfalls," wrote Wilson. "One suspects that if DeSantis does run, Trump will wield Bush’s endorsement as a bludgeon against DeSantis, associating him with the selfsame establishment neocon military foreign involvement lovers to which Trump stands in direct opposition. That would require a precise response on DeSantis’ part to simultaneously assure establishment Republicans he isn’t Trump II while making his case to conservative voters thoroughly disgusted with the old boy network that he is citizen-oriented first and last."

This comes as other Republicans have jumped into, or are planning to jump into, the race, including former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley and South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott — who are attempting to distinguish themselves from Trump with an "optimism" message but are walking a tightrope of not being too critical of the former president.



https://www.rawstory.com/jeb-bush-desantis/

 

Ron DeSantis reveals in memoir his one condition for getting married at Disney World
'My only condition was that no Disney characters could be part of our wedding,' DeSantis wrote

Gov. Ron DeSantis' new memoir reveals the one condition he had before tying the knot with Florida's first lady at Disney World Orlando: No Disney characters.

The first pages of the chapter tell the story about Mr. and Mrs. DeSantis' Disney World wedding.

"When Casey first broached the idea of getting married at Disney World, I was surprised because I did not know people even got married there,' DeSantis wrote in his book.

The Florida governor describes agreeing to the Disney wedding, but under one condition.


Ron and Casey DeSantis got married at Disney World. (Ron DeSantis Facebook)

"My only condition was that no Disney characters could be part of our wedding. I wanted our special day to look and feel like a traditional wedding. I didn’t want Mickey Mouse or Donald Duck in our wedding photos," he wrote.

DeSantis' book, titled "The Courage to be Free," is set to be released Tuesday.

In a recent interview with Florida Politics, the couple further discussed the Disney World wedding, admitting it’s "kind of ironic" to be wed at the amusement park given the current relationship with Walt Disney Co.

"Well, because, you know, coming from Ohio, that’s where I grew up. And so my family always enjoyed going to Disney. I mean, that we looked forward to it. We enjoyed the rides. I mean, we enjoyed, this was just a retreat for us. And so we figured, you know, if we had this opportunity, my parents were like, man, it’d be really great to go back to Disney," Casey DeSantis said. "And one of the other great things was the fact that they did a lot of the planning for you."

The Florida first lady added that despite getting married at Disney World, she will not be taking her family to the amusement park until "things change."

"So it was a, I could just show up sort of thing. And it was really a lot of fun. It’s made a lot of news, obviously. You know, people are asking me, ‘Are you going to bring your kids back and are you going to go back to Disney?’ And I’m thinking, ‘Well, you know, not until things change a little bit over there.’ But it was a fun time."


Gov. Ron DeSantis labeled Disney as "woke" after the company came out against the Parental Rights in Education law. (Lynne Sladky)

The governor labeled Disney as "woke" after the company came out against the Parental Rights in Education law that requires schools to "reinforce fundamental right of parents to make decisions regarding upbringing and control of their children."

On Monday, DeSantis signed a bill into law to end Disney’s self-governing power, putting them under the control of a state board.

 

DeSantis' charisma-challenged book shredded in scathing New York Times review

Mary Papenfuss
February 27, 2023




A scathing New York Times review has blasted the new book by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis as an excruciatingly flat "mechanical try-hard" — hinting at a charisma vacuum that could harm DeSantis' chances in a presidential race.

Reviewer Jennifer Szalai found the book, "The Courage to Be Free" — which is due out Tuesday — as so stiff that it "reads like a politician’s memoir churned out by ChatGPT." The book is "courageously free of anything that resembles charisma, or a discernible sense of humor," she wrote in the review Monday.

DeSantis can rail all he wants about "wokeness," but it can't distract from the "dull coldness at the book's core," Szalai noted. Even the title is an "awkward feint at boldness while clinging to the safety of cliché," she wrote.

That doesn't sound like campaign fire, and underscores concerns that DeSantis' personality only plays well in his home state.

IN OTHER NEWS: Steve Bannon is staring down a 'very difficult' criminal trial: legal expert

Szalai even pointed to the book's likely negative impact on a portion of his political supporters, who have encouraged DeSantis to “humanize himself” for a national audience. They'll be "sorely disappointed," she warned.

It's not the first time concerns about DeSantis' personality in a national campaign have been raised.

New York Magazine wondered just last month if DeSantis has a prayer against Donald Trump's "sinister charisma." Columnist Ed Kilgore characterized the heart of Trump's appeal as "the savagery of his assaults on Democrats and 'establishment' Republicans ... leavened with just enough crude humor and bad-boy charm."

DeSantis quickly "mastered the negative side of MAGA politics," but he decidedly lacks "people skills," Kilgore wrote.

Politico’s Jonathan Martin even more bluntly stated that DeSantis simply "lacks charm," and isn't keen on the "retail" side of selling his politics to the public that Trump seems to crave.



https://www.rawstory.com/desantis-c...k-shredded-in-scathing-new-york-times-review/

 

Repukes don't win on social issues. Republicans' win with on the false image of being the party that's better at "fiscal responsibility, "national defense" and dealing with crime. It's the democrats that too often run on social issues. Which is why some many legislatures are n repuke control.

But "Nationally" repukes always turn to "culture war" Now its "woke culture" Which is just repuke "dog whistle" politics for "keep america white and Christian."

We saw in 2022 midterms. Once the repukes thought a red wave was approaching, began talking about a national ban on abortion and gutting Social Security and Medicare. Well so much for the red wave after that.

 

LOL, 'DeSantis Derangement Syndrome' is hitting the Democrats pretty hard as 2024 approaches.....

 

Republicans lost any claim to fiscal responsibility when they adopted the delusion that tax cuts for the rich and increases in military spending will balance the budget. Ronald Reagan was stupid enough that he probably believed that. His more intelligent advisors knew better.

Years ago I read a column by George Will that I wish I had kept. He admitted that tax cuts were not good for the economy, but they were good for the Republican Party.

 

Which is why I said the "false" view that repukes are better with the economy. Of course the repukes don't acknowledge that Trump inherited a recovery economy. One that Obama raised from the trash heap after the financial crises under Bush (R) This despite McConnell and the repukes openly vowing to make Obama a "one term" president.

 

Yes, Governor Ron DeSantis's claim that Florida's crime rate is at a 50-year low is true
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement reported 2021's Uniform Crime Report confirmed the trend.

Author: Zach Wilcox
Published: 7:59 PM EST February 21, 2023

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — From West Palm, to Staten Island, to Chicago - Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has made sure to keep one claim in several different speeches over the past few weeks.

He claims that Florida's crime rate is at a 50-year low.

THE QUESTION
Is Florida's crime rate at a 50-year low?

SOURCE
Florida Department of Law Enforcement's Uniform Crime Report



THE ANSWER


Yes, Florida's crime rate is at a 50-year low.

WHAT WE FOUND
FDLE posted in 2021 that Florida had hit a 50-year low, noting a 14% drop in crime from 2019 to 2020.

That trend continued in the latest report for 2021, dropping another 8%.

Taking a deeper dive into the numbers.

Murders dropped 14% from 2020 to 2021

Thanks to the uniform crime report released last year and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement's news release, we can verify DeSantis' claim is true.

The 2022 stats haven't been released yet, but the way the state collects this data is changing.

The new stats will have more than 50 reportable categories, rather than just seven broad categories.

FDLE says the new stats won't be comparable to the old ones because agencies will be able to input more than one offense for each incident.

 

Florida achieved economic milestones in 2022
Bethany Blankley | The Center Square | 1/2/2023
(The Center Square) – Florida’s economy reached many milestones in 2022, including recording it’s second lowest unemployment rate in state history and reaching record levels of job creation and budget reserves. It also closed 2022 with nearly $22 billion in surplus, the highest in state history, and decreased its debt by $1.3 billion.

“By keeping Florida free and open, we have created a positive economic environment and invested in our state’s workforce and communities,” Gov. Ron DeSantis said of the state’s economic progress. He’s touted Florida leading the U.S. “in net migration and talent attraction” while “other states continue to struggle at the hands of poor leadership; people and businesses are flocking to Florida.”

Florida Department of Economic Opportunity Secretary Dane Eagle announced Florida’s economic milestones in an end of year report, crediting “Governor DeSantis’ decisive leadership and smart, strategic investments,” which he said prepared Florida’s economy “to face the national economic conditions, inflation, and the catastrophic impacts of Hurricane Ian.”


As other states continue to face economic hardship due to the national economic climate, in October, Florida surpassed pre-pandemic employment levels in all nine major private sector industries and created net jobs for the 13th consecutive month.

In November, Florida’s unemployment rate dropped to 2.6% – the lowest of the country's 10 largest states. November also marked 24 consecutive months of Florida’s unemployment rate remaining below the national rate, the 20th month Florida exceeded the national job growth rate, and the 31st consecutive month Florida employers added jobs.

The state awarded $66 million to 22 communities and educational institutions through the Florida Job Growth Grant Fund. The fund is projected to create more than 19,000 jobs and training opportunities over the next 10 years.

DEO also administered more than $133.4 million to facilitate workforce development initiatives, $13 million to 27 rural communities to help facilitate infrastructure projects that encourage job creation, and over $135 million through the Community Development Block Grant Program to improve infrastructure, housing, job creation and other initiatives.


Florida’s Homeowner Assistance Fund, which launched in 2022 to mitigate financial hardships associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, helped prevent mortgage foreclosures and delinquencies and utility service disruptions. At least $540 million was awarded through the program, which helped roughly 28,095 homeowners and prevented over 300 active foreclosures.

“According to publicly available data, Florida’s HAF program has awarded more in assistance than California, Texas, and New York combined,” DEO says.

Florida’s new Law Enforcement Recruitment Bonus Payment Program in 2022 awarded over 600 bonuses to newly certified law enforcement officers.

In September, DEO also began issuing $1,000 bonuses, after taxes, through the Essential First Responders Recognition Program to sworn law enforcement officers, emergency medical technicians, firefighters, and paramedics. As of Dec. 27, DEO had issued $106.5 million in recognition payments to over 80,000 first responders.

This is after the state legislature and the governor implemented over $1 billion in tax cuts and savings in 2022.

In 2022, Florida also led the U.S. with the fastest population growth and was ranked first in several rankings for freedom, educational opportunities, low tuition rates and attracting a talented workforce.

 

Former President Trump leads Florida Gov. DeSantis (R) by 15 points among GOP primary voters in a hypothetical 2024 match-up, new polling from Fox News shows.

The survey released on Sunday found Trump, who launched his reelection campaign back in November, in the lead among potential Republican primary challengers with 43 percent. DeSantis, who hasn’t formally announced he’ll run, followed with 28 percent.

 

You beat me to it. And every poll I've seen this week is even better for Trump and worse for DeSantis.

 

The age old claim that the rich get richer at the expense of the poor has been refuted so many times it is hardly worth the effort to bring it up again, but it remains true that the rich get richer and that has no effect on the poor, except to make them jealous.

- shootersa

How do you account for statistics like this:

 

silkythighs, do not discount the power of social issues. Just because you do not respond positively to them does not mean that tens of millions of Americans do.

Most white blue collar workers know that the U.S. economy has not been working for them. Most vote Republican anyway because they disagree with the Democrats on social issues.

When the Democrat Party respected their social concerns and advanced their economic interests the Democrat Party dominated the country.

 

Well dog, your charts and in fact your whole argument about the rich getting rich off the backs of the poor has to rely on two false premises;
1) The total economic pie available for people is finite. It is not.
2) That once "rich" one can never be "poor". Rich people just continue to be rich no matter what they do, the economy does, or anyone else does.

That the rich get richer is correct for Society, but again, the economic pie is not finite. It can literally grow forever. And that means, if one is poor, one can be rich and not at the expense of anyone else. And the rich can become poor very easily. We see that all the time, don't we?

The whole demonization of the rich is aimed at justifying taking from the rich and giving it to the poor. The problem with that is that it discourages incentive and self determination. If one is rich and believes that the government will take away their wealth and give it to the "poor" they have no incentive to make money. The poor are taught that if they just wait, government will give them that which they did not earn, so why bother with trying to earn it yourself.