Joe Henderson
Corporations and well-heeled individuals give money to political candidates and expect to receive favorable treatment in return.
Take the Tampa Bay Rays, for instance.
Creative Loafing shared the work from investigative reporter Jason Garcia, who used public records to show that since 2014, the Rays donated $309,630 to various Florida political campaigns. Of that, $182,725 went to conservative politicians or PACs, including more than $67,000 exclusively to Republicans in this election cycle.
They were wrong if they hoped the donations and good relations with top state politicians like Wilton Simpson and Chris Sprowls would give them the needed edge for a pet project.
They wasted their time and money.
Gov. Ron DeSantis red-lined the $35 million budget item approved by the House and Senate to build a youth sports complex in Pasco County. The Rays clearly hoped to move their spring training headquarters there from Port Charlotte.
DeSantis gave two reasons for the veto.
The first: the Governor said he doesn’t “support giving taxpayer dollars to professional sports stadiums, period.”
He’s not wrong there.
But the other reason was more in line with his “think like I do, or else” agenda.
After the massacre in Uvalde, Texas, the Rays donated $50,000 to Everytown for Gun Safety. They tweeted:
“We all deserve to be safe — in schools, grocery stores, places of worship, our neighborhoods, houses, and America,” the Rays posted. “The most recent shootings in Buffalo and Uvalde have shaken us to the core. This cannot become normal. We cannot become numb. We cannot look the other way.”
They added, “We all know, if nothing changes, nothing changes.”
The Governor, who favors no-license open so-called “constitutional carry” in Florida, was not amused. Since he said he planned to veto the ballpark plan anyway, why not use it as an example for those who disagree with him.
DeSantis said it was “inappropriate to subsidize political activism of a private corporation. So I think, either way, it’s not appropriate.”
Just ask the Walt Disney Co. about its return on investment after it got crossways with the Governor. We remember that, right?
POLITICO reported in April that Disney donated $190,000 to help elect Republican lawmakers in Florida. The company received a sharp stick in the eye after it opposed DeSantis’ so-called and contentious “Don’t Say Gay” law.
GOP lawmakers quickly fell in line with the Governor and turned Disney into a punchline for daring to advocate repeal of the law.
DeSantis’ supporters can point to these things as proof that corporations can’t buy him. And it’s not like he or the Republican Party will miss the money from the Rays and Disney. They’ve got plenty of dough.
On the other side, though, companies in the future may wonder if maybe they should back the other side. Cash-poor Democrats might welcome the help, but there’s a danger there. They could look like sellouts for taking corporate money after DeSantis took what his supporters would call a principled stand.
He’s feeling an adrenaline rush too.
Last week, DeSantis threatened the Special Olympics with a $27.5 million fine if it didn’t drop its COVID-19 vaccination requirement for the USA Games competition in Orlando.
Olympic organizers gave in because they really had no choice. The Governor could again beat his chest, this time for keeping those Special Olympics rebels in line.
Who’s next? No telling.
The message to corporations should be loud and clear though.
Donate all the money you want, but unless you’re all in and do exactly what DeSantis says, you’re out.
One comment
John Dixon
June 8, 2022 at 11:31 am
Good. At least he does what he says and stands by his convictions even though the liberal socialist children will stomp their feet and accept money and do anything other than expect people to actually act as adults and take care of themselves.
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