Disney Turns $4.8 Bill Profit, Request Tax Breaks

A little bit of old news, but I saw this tid bit online of Disney joining forces with the owners of NASCAR, International Speedway Corp (ISC) to request big tax breaks from the State of Florida.

Whats the gist of it-- both companies want the state to establish zones for sport venue development that allows for tax breaks when a private company invests in infrastructure.  The pitch is simple-- give us some tax breaks to help drive economic development.  Normally great policy to help incentivize private investment.

But lets looks under the numbers.  Disney is a multi-billion dollar company with a profit of $4.8 billion last year.  ISC turned a profit of nearly $55 million.  The State of Florida has to close a $2 billion budget gap, the fifth year in a row needing to close a budget gap.

Does anyone else see a problem here?  I mean I am a stockholder of Disney and want them to make as much profit as possible, but pushing for tax breaks as Florida continues to slash education funding?  Really Disney, are we becoming that greedy?

Hopefully this proposal goes no where.