A few weeks ago (?) former Trump lapdog Jared Kushner parachuted into Saudi Arabia hoping to pick up an investment in his new private equity firm. Here's a sample of his pitch deck, which was obtained by The Intercept:
I had a hard time picking out the most embarrassing slide from the deck and eventually just said the hell with it and went with this one. Even an idiot can see that this diagram says nothing, and the rest of them are like a set of parodies from SNL.
Needless to say, the Saudi money men aren't idiots and they had plenty of problems with Kushner's pitch:
Those objections included: “the inexperience of the Affinity Fund management”; the possibility that the kingdom would be responsible for “the bulk of the investment and risk”; due diligence on the fledgling firm’s operations that found them “unsatisfactory in all aspects”; a proposed asset management fee that “seems excessive”; and “public relations risks” from Mr. Kushner’s prior role as a senior adviser to his father-in-law, former President Donald J. Trump, according to minutes of the panel’s meeting last June 30.
But days later the full board of the $620 billion Public Investment Fund — led by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler and a beneficiary of Mr. Kushner’s support when he worked as a White House adviser — overruled the panel.
This obvious payoff for Kushner's and Trump's loyalty to Saudi interests got a few days notice and then faded out.
Now let's switch to a couple of other warm weather environments: Southern California and Southern Florida. Walt Disney Company, headquartered in the liberal entertainment industry of Los Angeles and under pressure from its workers at Walt Disney World in Orlando, decided to publicly oppose Florida's "Don't Say Gay" bill. There wasn't much to this: they didn't threaten to shut down their business or anything like that. They just issued a statement opposing the bill.
But Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican who sees a president every time he looks in the mirror, swore revenge. Like many companies in Florida, Disney enjoys self-governing status over the land on which Walt Disney World sits, called the Reedy Creek Improvement District. This is a convenience for Disney and also a convenience for the counties that surround the land, but no matter. DeSantis wanted to punish Disney by taking away their self-governing status, and so far he's gotten the Florida Senate to agree.
This is all bad enough. But what's really bad is that there are virtually no Republicans who seem to have a problem with either of these things. A $2 billion gift from the Saudis? Whatevs. Kushner deserves it for his 48 months of selfless public service.
And a Republican governor taking official state vengeance against a longtime corporate ally just because they opposed a bill of his? That's flat-out extortion, but once again, no one in the Republican Party seems to care much and media coverage is modest.
What's the deal here? Does no one care? Do they care but they can't figure out a good angle to fight back? Do Democrats think these scandals are losers that won't help them much? Or what?
Is this now just the routine Republican way of politics?
Does anyone ever ef n need to ask?
Influence peddling by a Trump relative, now THAT is shocking…lol Clearly, this is horrid: however, likely similar to Hunter Biden, Billy Carter etc, there is a long history of folks selling access. Perhaps I am in the minority, but I dislike the self-governing status of Disney Florida; It’s a shame a Democrat didn’t tackle this issue years ago…
Kushner wasn't just a relative. He was a high government official who was granted top-secret security clearance over the *loud* objections of the US intelligence community. There's substantial evidence that he abused that clearance to leak critical intel to MBS, to the detriment of the US.
Getting a payoff for being the prez's relative is commonplace and not criminal. Getting top-secret clearance is less so. Selling info obtained through said clearance is unheard of and criminal.
This. I'm sure that George W. Bush can sell his mediocre paintings for more than they are worth b/c former president, and that Billy Beer wouldn't have gotten off the ground if it weren't for Billy's relation to his famous brother, but that's categorically different than a former security-cleared senior presidential advisor selling "investment advice" to a bloodthirsty petrosheikh to the tune of $2 billion.
The Republican Party, the media, and investigations pursued Billie Carter and Hunter Biden. Can't speak to "etc." So why not expose, criticize, investigate, and if appropriate, prosecute Young Prince Jared?
Just like all the Democrats who peddled influence. But only Jared has a stunning level of success.
Because IOKIYAR.
Yup. Billy Beer is just like a $2 billion pay off for shielding an authoritarian theocrat from any repercussions after dismembering a journalist living in the USA. Just exactly the same thing. You betcha.
anybody has an idea why didn't Kushner and teh Saudians even try to hide the fact that it is not a normal commercal relations? Did they really had to expose the fact that the panel didn't like it wnad was overruled from above?
I think there’s a logic to it. It’s like when Trump tells an obvious lie and the Republican elites debase themselves falling into line and pretending it’s true. That’s a manifestation of Trump’s power and a demonstration of the party elite’s submissiveness.
When Jared does these things like getting his 666 debacle bailed out by essentially selling American foreign policy and gets away with them it’s a manifestation of his power. And also of why people should give him money. He’s well enough connected that he can flaunt his corruption with impunity.
Similarly, impunity and power is the message being sent by MBS. He can murder an employee of the Washington Post without the slightest fear of reprisals, even by a Democratic administration. He can insult our president’s envoy and refuse to help lower oil prices without fear of the consequences. And the more he flaunts his impunity, the more powerful and all encompassing it becomes.
The link between Business School blather and dictatorship grows ever stronger. Orwell would love this.
Making completely meaningless BS slide decks must be a whole series of courses at our elite Ivy League business schools.
+1
The most important aspect of defeating authoritarianism is making them lose battles. Not every losing is part of their street cred, and if they lose, it's very bad for them.
Liberals (in the classical sense of people who support representative governments and tolerate multiple approaches to life rather than frame them as attacks on "our way of life") not so much.
So, I think DeSantis is going to lose this fight with Disney, and that's going to be good for the country.
We need to look for other opportunities to make them lose. For instance, I look for parents of trans kids in Texas to go on the attack against Abbot and his dumbass "report potential child abuse" bullshit.
It's very weird to see a Republican Party be not so corporate friendly, by the way.
"So, I think DeSantis is going to lose this fight with Disney, and that's going to be good for the country."
Well, that, or one of two other things could happen:
1) corporations realize that Republicans will punish them for insufficient political fealty but Democrats won't, so corporations generally do things to keep Republicans happy and in power.
2) Democrats realize that Republicans will punish corporations for insufficient political fealty, so Democrats start trying to do the same, and corporations generally do things to keep their patrons happy and in power.
Both (1) and (2) are terrible for the rule of law, faith in democracy, effective governance, and the ability of the public to get the government it wants/deserves. (1) is also a path down which Poland, Turkey, and Russia have been going.
Corporations also might just start donating heavily and only to Democrats as counter revenge to Republican efforts to blackmail them. Disney for example could put billions into electing all blue candidates everywhere in Florida.
"Disney for example could put billions into electing all blue candidates everywhere in Florida."
No they won't. Disney doesn't have billions it can spend on politicking, for one thing (those billions go to shareholders and/or are invested in I guess star wars and marvel movies), and even if they did, what is the upside for them? Disney isn't a person, it's a moneymaking venture, and won't invest billions in anything unless they are likely to make billions plus X percent above market in return.
Moreover, do you *want* to live in a world in which Disney or any other corporation can just get a slate of candidates it prefers elected across an entire state? Because even if they are nominally "democrats," they won't be the sort that you or I would particularly like. There's a word for where political and corporate power are fused. Historically, it was "fascism," but more modern incarnations include "Turkey" and "Russia."
Point 1 is right on. This is what will happen. 2. will never happen because the "Dems Hate Business" meme is too strong and all companies need to do is rally the Fox hordes and Republican politicians against it and it fails. It's heads Republicans win, tails Dems lose. Sucks that those are the rules, but it's where we are now.
By the way, that slide says something to me. It's something that's not very interesting, in that "we're not a VC, nor are we a 'bust em up at end of life' private equity firm" But we do things in the middle.
My guess is that the entire fund is more influence peddling. They buy stakes at a discount because "we can make things happen for you"
Your question comes down to "Do Republicans feel shame?". The answer is, of course, "No."
👍👍👍
Part of the populist strain which is increasingly taking over the GOP is a return to a major mistrust of Big Business.
A basic definition of American populism was strong social conservatism combined with an equally strong dislike of major corporations - "Big Rail and Big Banks" were the archetypical enemies of populists.
Which interestingly led them to be supporters of such radical notions as unions, and a strong central government to rein in if not trust bust big business.
In a significant way, this revivalism is not only a break with GOP traditionalism but also with the Trumpite crowd.
The weakness of the first major populist movement was that it became associated with primarily farmer and ranchers, but also with various anti-immigrent and racial bigotries...
their "mistrust" of big business only extends as far as big business not willing to do business with republicans.
their "mistrust" of big business only extends as far as big business not willing to do business with republicans.,/i>
I think that mistrust/hatred goes further and deeper among the political base - more so than among the party leaders, old school or new. It relates to the rise of new oligarchies and demi-monopolies; to a new generation of the ruling elite that is in general far more openly socially liberal than the prior ruling class.
It has less to do about business, than about values. This book is why the old adage about politics being about pocket books than about morals.
checking tag state
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I think it has little to do with mistrust of big business as such; rather, it is mistrust of particular individuals (Zuckerberg, Soros, for example) who happen to be wealthy businessmen. I doubt that many of those who mistrust Soros even know what his business is. There is also mistrust of whole sectors, big or small, such as the 'mainstream media'. True that it's not pocketbook issues, people don't feel that Soros or the others are personally underpaying or overcharging them. Yes, it's part of the culture war, but even this is not organic, it takes a lot of propagandizing to stir the mistrust and resentment.
Read this a couple days ago at TPM but I can't get into it again because I'm not a subscriber,
https://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/princelings-and-war-crimes
It's an astonishing description of how completely hooked up Kushner is with the Saudi crown prince and why he was refused a high level security clearance.
Why isn't he required to register as an agent of a foreign power?
If I'm Disney, right now I'm talking to officials in the Bahamas and saying what can they do for us to facilitate a move. You don't stay in a place where you're not wanted and any CEO worth their salt would be damned if they were forced to pay tribute to any government leader.
"any CEO worth their salt would be damned if they were forced to pay tribute to any government leader"
Maybe. But, "CEO, be not proud" is the lesson many boards will deliver. If fealty to the party in power increases profits (and C-level compensation as a result), why would the (largely sociopathic) CEO crowd choose to do differently?
Disney needs to just start funding Democrats and only Democrats for every election in Florida. They have enough money to run norms of anti-Republican commercials all over Florida for years to come. Two can play at revenge…
*tons
You can’t move Disney world to the Bahamas. The odds are pretty good that Disney’s response will be to become a reliable Republican team player. There’s really nothing for Disney to win by opposing the ruling party and, as a practical matter, there’s no realistic way for them to fight the Republican Party even if it wanted to.
It could easily take decades or longer for a viable opposition party to emerge. I can’t see the Mouse bleeding dollars for decades on behalf anyone and certainly not their gay or Democratic employees who will soon be terminated or forced back into the closet.
This is right, I think. DeSantis and Trump own Florida now and Disney World isn't exactly some traveling circus that can just pull up stakes and move along to another state. Either they suck it up and just deal with the new regulations/taxes or they give in and do what the MAGAts want. I'm sure their accountants and lawyers are running the numbers on each option now in terms of boycotts, threats to profit margins, etc.
"What's the deal here? Does no one care?"
Are you joking, Kevin? Graft is all the Republican party is about. Their raison d'etre.
What's the deal here? Does no one care? Do they care but they can't figure out a good angle to fight back?
The country's been gradually groomed over a number of years for the abuse it's now experiencing courtesy of the right, and thus now barely notices it.
That’s sort of true but incomplete. The mainstream press coverage is dictated by the Murdoch media and the ability of Republicans to stay on message. And Republicans do not defect (partly because they are shameless and partly because there are severe consequences for disloyalty).
A traditional reason for not doing things like taking huge payoffs is that you won’t get away with it (but you can if a Democrat is attorney general) and the opposition party will send the perpetrator to prison and then bludgeon the perpetrator’s political party into an early death. But not the Democrats who are timid, conflict adverse, and afraid to to rock the boat.
+1 for use of "grooming" and "abuse"
Thanks, I don’t use the term to be snarky or clever. I actually do think that’s substantially what has happened (“grooming”). There’s been a very significant degree of gradualism in the descent of the Republican party into madness. It’s kind of like the line in the Great Gatsby about bankruptcy happening gradually and then suddenly. And that’s where I think we are with respect to the predations inflicted upon the country by the right. A person who time traveled here from the 1970s would be shocked by what we’ve been up against of late. But we ourselves are *not* shocked. And that’s because it’s been a very steady and yes, actually rather gradual process going back some 40 years at this point.
I'm afraid I'm going to have to sue Mr. Kushner for stealing my motto. As you can tell from my Twitter profile (@ItMustBeJim), my motto is "Connectively transforming acceleration." Kushner thought that he could claim this as his own by merely rearranging the words; we'll see if he sings this same tune once my lawyers get hold of him!
Odd that Kushner is a PR risk - but being behind 9/11, sawing heads of journalists, and stoning adulteresses isn't.
It would not surprise me, in the future, to find Jared's body parts were separated with a bone saw.
This. If I was a Person in Power, I'd be thinking about how to structure my business dealings so as to avoid working with legally questionable crime families and cartels of all sorts, be they drug-, weapons-, or murder-journos-with-bone-saws-on-foreign-soil- petrostates.
If I was a Person in Power with a long time horizon and a general tendency towards trying to do good, I'd be thinking about how to structure business dealings in general so as to minimize anybody else working with such entities, too.
No surprises that Kushner would go a different way, though.
From your mouth to god’s ear!
+10
I think the risk was that Jared would lose or steal the money with no guarantee that the Donald would return to power anytime soon.
The Jewish guys have been influence peddling to their Saudi and Russian masters since the 80's. Sure, bring it out and question their patriotism.
Thé Kushner/Saudi relationship seems like normal monetizing of influence as long as Jared doesn’t return to government. It isn’t a good thing, but seems in the realm of what tends to happen.
Of much greater concern, I believe, is the DeSantis/Disney fight. DeSantis is going full Putin, punishing Disney for disagreeing with him. As Kevin said, Disney isn’t really doing anything more than publicly saying they disagree with a new law. That’s it. For that, Disney is receiving the full wrath and vengeance of the Governor. Is DeSantis next going to try and bring the full weight of his office against the Miami Herald if they criticize him in an editorial? If a Democrat somehow wins the next governor election, will the new governor end the same self-governing status Disney has for the Villages because they are overwhelmingly Republican? This is Authoritarianism.
A $2 billion obvious pay off for helping cover up the dismemberment (and other misdeeds, no doubt) of a US journalist is a lot of things, but "normal" isn't any of them. Please do name any thing of that magnitude personally benefiting a former politician or any of their relatives.
Getting a sweet gig at a high profile law firm for your son or daughter, or giving $100,000 speeches are "normal" things expoliticians do. I agree those things are unseemly, but those are normal.
Desantis picked and choose. Which is elitism. Kill him for treason. Torture the fraud. Accuse him of homosexuality. Overregulating self hatred.
Abortion and guns in perspective,
https://twitter.com/thekjohnston/status/1517148258245562368
I'm not seeing the downside of removing an exclusive LID designed for corporations.
At an abstract level, there’s nothing wrong with taking away a corrupt benefit which should never have been granted to Disney. But I think you’re overlooking the larger point which is that only if Disney serves the interests of the Republican Party will it retain those significant benefits. Likewise, the message to other corporations and to everyone else is that loyal servants of the party receive great benefits from the state but those who do not submit will have the full power of the state deployed against the until they toe the Republican line.
I'm not overlooking the larger point that the unacceptable position (of corporate welfare) was being taken away unfairly.
Nike got its exclusion zone from being incorporated by the City of Beaverton through Democrats at the state level in Oregon. Would you be upset if Democrats threatened to take away that exclusion if Nike decided to campaign against Democratic priorities?
Corporate welfare is a sin against society and democracy.
I agree that corporate welfare is wasteful and wrong. On general principle, I would be upset if the Democrats did such a thing. It’s wrong and contrary to the fundamental principles of the liberal state.
But, increasingly, it’s a conundrum for me. It certainly is a hallmark of an authoritarian regime. It’s unquestionably bad. But if it can be done by Republicans without any opposition, it will provide an immense advantage for Republicans in a wide variety of ways which would blunt the efforts of even the most energetic and forceful opposition party. I think this would lead inexorably to permanent Republican rule.
Blue states not only have the overwhelming percentage of the population, they’ve also got an overwhelming portion of the economy. Which would make a Democratic response in kind vastly more powerful than the Republicans effort.
If the Republicans are successful with this play, then I think that the 21st version of a civil war is on.
Florida is full of these districts though. Why target only Disney, and not the Villages for example?
Also, dissolving this district in particular would dump $2B in debts already accrued by Reedy Creek on Orange and Osceola taxpayers. About $580 for every man, woman and child living in those two counties. Not sure immediately dissolution (as opposed to gradually winding districts like these down) is a great idea, even if the tax district was an unfair giveaway to Disney a half century ago.
"About $580 for every man, woman and child living in those two counties. "
A small price to play for Sticking it to the Libs!
I feel pretty confident that Florida can't exclusively target Disney, under the 14th Amendment's equal protection clause. Even writing an amendment to the law directing "the exclusion of entertainment parks" would affect more than just Disney and wouldn't be such a bad thing.
I feel pretty confident that the LID would hold onto its debt, still serviceable by income generated by the corporation that holds interest in the LID, rather than have its debts passed down.
I think an important thing that’s being overlooked is the role of the Democratic Party. What the Republicans have learned over the past decades is that if there’s no consequences for breaking social norms and doing the “unthinkable” then there’s simply no reason not to to do the “unthinkable”.
One important reason for not breaking societal norms is that the other people in society will now be freed from those norms, too. If you’re a minority party like the Republicans, you’d naturally think twice about upsetting the norms which, for example, discourage the majority party from deploying state power to destroy you. But the Democrats have made it clear that there will not be retaliation under any circumstances and their party will adhere to the norms regardless.
I think that what’s driving the rightward movement towards authoritarianism is, in no small part, that there’s no downside for Republicans.
This +1000.
If there are no consequences for crimeing and/or normbreaking, then crimeing and normbreaking will continue.
This +10,000.
Part of the problem is "bothsiderism." Most of this stuff is too technical or complicated for most people to figure out in the amount of time they want to devote to it (the average person has no idea how hedge funds work or what Disney's special status does). So all of it just ends up sounding equally dodgy.
Many people do have a knee-jerk reaction in opposition to big business, and Disney in particular. Anything Disney-related is big bucks, and people resent that. Americans love the "self-made" man, not the corporate suit. Disney run by Walt is what Americans love, Disney run by a guy with an MBA is hated. The details of what either guy actually does is irrelevant.
Yes, in the abstract, this sort of thing is absolutely terrible for democracy and the rule of law. But most people really dont think about or care about any of that.
The GOP has long ago stopped caring about governing for the long term. It is going to be nothing but grievance politics, with courts doing all the "dirty work" of implementing the GOP agenda. The most annoying part will be all the voters who refuse to vote for Dems because "the Dems aren't doing anything to stop it!"
Two things: the good folks in the counties where Disney is are about to see their taxes raised 20 percent according to their clerks. Hating on the gays is expensive.
Kevin, Florida also eliminated tenure at the university level. Oh well.
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Disney is the company that pushed the Feds into giving them 20 more years of copyright on The Mouse. I don't see them letting themselves be pushed around by some governor of a state that isn't in the top tier of money/population.
I mean, what these guys always do is move away, or threaten to move away, right?
I sort of expect DeSantis to loudly shake his finger at them and make threats, but to kick any actual confrontation down the road for his successor to deal with.
Desantis is a colored boy. Kill him.
Disney basically owns an entire country in Florida. It would cost them billions to move but nothing to bend a knee to the (probably permanent) ruling party. Which do you think they’ll do?
They tried to avoid this fight but their non-straight employees wouldn't let them and thus pissed off DeSantis. So what now? You're argument those employees will be fired or go back into the closet.
Really?
Let me point out to you that Disney made $67 Billion last year, That's with a "b" and that's net profit. To say they can't afford a move (which yes would cost a lot), is ridiculous. Of course they can move, just like many sports team can move if they don't get cushy tax, finance and infrastructure deals from the public for new stadiums.
It wouldn't be all at once or right away. But let's say some sort of theme park was set up in the Bahamas and those employees who wanted to leave Florida could leave and Disney World would simply just....vanish, slowly and surely.
Besides, there's a principle at stake here, dammit. Business owns the politicians, not the other way around. And bought politicians who don't stay bought need to be taught a lesson about the consequences of going back on their word.
How realistic is it to assume that Disney will spend billions and lose billions more just to placate a handful of gay employees or people who are focused on their pronouns? Remember, Disney also submits to censorship of its films by China just to say in that one lucrative market.
Also, teams can move from places that refuse them massive subsidies because they are universally moving to places offering even more massive subsidies. There’s no reason to believe that’s there’s anything Disney could do that would replace its Florida operation. Remember that if there was sufficient demand for a Disney theme park somewhere, they’d already be building it.
And I do think it’s highly likely that if Florida says no gay employees, Disney will either fire their gay employees or coax them back into the closet because that’s how corporations function in authoritarian regimes.
Well somehow they managed to make the company oppose the bill so must have some deal of influence don't you think?
Since this repeal doesn't take affect until next year the assumption is, especially if DeSantis is re-elected they'll come to some sort of arrangement. That will depend on whether or not Disney is willing to tolerate the brain drain from the company, especially from its creative departments if groveling before DeSantis for a "special district" is worth it.
The company obviously assumed that there might be some grumbling but no serious blowback. The sources Kevin’s citing demonstrate that this was a mistaken assumption. But clearly the whether the gays and allies have more influence than the Republicans will be determined not by some moral calculus but rather by the bean counters. And I can assure you that does not bode well for anyone and most especially not for the gays.
The arrangement that Disney will likely reach with Florida will be the same as it reached with the Chinese government, namely, complete and abject submission.
"Let me point out to you that Disney made $67 Billion last year, That's with a "b" and that's net profit."
I think you are conflating revenue with profit. Disney had *revenue* of ~$67 billion in 2021, but only net income of about $2 billion. Now, that's down off of a pre-pandemic high of closer to $10 billion net, but however you slice it you are off by an order of magnitude.
Further, the GDP of Florida is about $1 trillion; Disney may be a big player in the world of theme parks and superhero movies, but it's not economic titan who can shove the state around, even if it wanted to.
Even though it's the largest employer in the state at over 80,000 employees with some 453,000 jobs tied to their presence in Florida?
Is this now just the routine Republican way of politics?
What can you point to as evidence that this is NOT the routine Republican way of politics?
The good "moderate" Democrats can't hear you, Kevin. They want to focus on the things that concern ordinary Americans, like inflation. Why they want to talk about inflation is a mystery, but they do.
Their messaging is so atrocious, this barely made a ripple in today's news:
Trump would have posted six hyperbolic tweets about it and highlighted it in every rally and press conference for the next six months. This White House might issue a bland statement, if we're lucky, and go back to wringing its hands about inflation.
Oh, and while I'm on a rant about messaging - those same slides Kevin mentioned include the Kushner boy bragging that he persuaded OPEC to make "the largest oil production reductions in history", a deal which has directly caused the current high oil prices. Yet Biden et al. don't even mention it while passively copping criticism that the Saudis won't take their calls.
Biden is nothing more than a stopgap. Part of what this board doesn't get. Future Democratic candidates need to make noise.
I don’t think he wants to be divisive. Point out things like this would be seen as playing politics with politics. The Democrats are a bipartisan political party.
A lot of Republicans voted for Biden in 2020 and the proof of this was narrow wins in Arizona, Georgia and Wisconsin. Maybe that affects how he strategizes about these things.
Besides, what's stopping other Dems from saying the same things? Hmmm?
I’m not sure why it would. My guess and some polling suggests that the main motivational thing driving educated white Republicans to vote for Biden was how crazy and scary the Republican Party had become. I don’t think it would be amiss for him to keep reminding them about the situation or to toot his own horn occasionally.
There’s lots of Democrats who are taking about the craziness and fighting back against the Republicans but they’re not in leadership positions and also the consultants favored by the leadership universally seem to think the way to victory is through fundraising to pay for incompetent consultants but hoping that the media or the referees will deal with the messy authoritarianism and culture war attacks. The reality is that the Democratic leadership and consultants are not capable or either governing or opposing.
The "rights" so called slide into authoritarianism won't work when capitalism dies. Wait until the left nationalizes the financial system from the globalist system. When the President stands on the former hedge fund elitists property and stares at the American people saying with a machine gun in his hand, he "liberated" it for "you". The game will be a foot.
Yes.
Talk about being a banana republic....
Anyone in the Republican party can do anything they want as long as it annoys the libs....
I realize the mouse can’t do this, but wouldn’t it great if Florida’s largest private employer just said, oh well, if you don’t want us , we’ll go. Imagine what the other eastern-southern states would offer to get Disney in.? And desantis can take the credit. I’m sure the voters would understand and even cheer.
Amazon did the same thing when Seattle threatened them with a head tax to pay for the city's needs. You should have seen the backtracking when they announced they were looking for HQ2.