Albert's Alt

@SMB_Attorney Lol. I grew up in Orlando. Was there through the pandemic. Orlando is 5-10 years behind atlanta. Went back earlier this year and it just has not aged well

Central Florida gets a bad rap, but the data and reality says otherwise. You could make a serious argument that Orlando is one of the best places in America to live right now. The Orlando metro was the fastest-growing large metro in the country last year, adding roughly 76,000 new residents in a single year with 2.7% population growth. And people aren’t moving to “Orlando.” They’re moving to incredible places like Horizon West, Winter Park, and Lake Nona. Horizon West exploded from ~14,000 residents in 2010 to nearly 75,000 in 2025 and has become one of the fastest-growing master planned communities in the country. Lake Nona has transformed into a legitimate innovation and health-tech hub with Medical City, UCF’s medical campus, biotech investment, autonomous transit programs, and one of the most ambitious mixed-use developments in the country. Winter Park gives you a completely different vibe, walkable streets, lakes, great restaurants, Rollins College, old Florida charm, and household incomes north of $130k for families. People talk about the heat, but the reality is Orlando has 8-9 months a year with incredible weather while much of the country is dealing with snow, gray skies, or brutal winters. And then there’s lifestyle. You get lake living almost year round. World-class golf. Boating. Restaurants. Professional sports. And the #1 tourist corridor on earth sitting 20 minutes away whenever you actually want it. Disney, Universal, concerts, conventions, Michelin-level dining, events, all accessible without needing to live in the middle of it. The business ecosystem is also way more developed than outsiders realize. Deloitte, Lockheed Martin, EA Sports, Siemens, KPMG, Disney, and a growing tech + healthcare ecosystem all have major operations here. Orlando’s GDP is approaching $200B. And MCO has quietly become one of the best airports in the country. When I lived in Dallas and Denver, out-of-town visitors came every few months. In Orlando, it’s basically every week. People underestimate Central Florida because they associate it with tourism. Meanwhile, a lot of us are over here wondering why more people haven’t figured it out yet. Cc: @kenpozek

@Peaceluvwoodstk @bonchieredstate We can agree on some form of voter ID. That's not changing that after this cycle there will only be ~15 competitive districts out of 435 under normal, non-wave year circumstances. After 2028 there will be even fewer.

"we see our ability to affect things politically shrinking" ... election fraud will do that. Requiring proof of citizenship for voting would be a huge step in the right direction. Pew Research, Gallup, other polls show more than 80% of Americans favor voter ID and proof of citizenship for registration.

The effects of inflation are cumulative. That’s how.

@Peaceluvwoodstk @bonchieredstate Also doesnt help that we see our ability to affect things politically shrinking. Political leaders should make political institutional reform a priority. Proportional representation to end this doom loop of gerrymanders is a must.

@Peaceluvwoodstk @bonchieredstate That's true. People's dissatisfaction is derived from pessimism toward the future. People want to be optimistic they will have more freedom to do things financially, professionally, and socially in the future. That's just not the case & hasn't been the case for years now.

@Peaceluvwoodstk @bonchieredstate I mean, maybe to a small degree. I'd say it's more like the media provides the flashlight for people to see what's really going on at a broader scale & the situation sucks bc there isn't a clear way out in sight.

@_14numbers @bonchieredstate A lot of that "feeling" is due to relentless negative reporting by the media.

@Peaceluvwoodstk @bonchieredstate The feeling of being stuck in life has entrenched itself. That's the core problem, not prices themselves. Stuck in mortgages, stuck w/o a house, stuck in a job w/o being able to move up, stuck not being able to retire bc property taxes are exploding, stuck financially bc prices

@bonchieredstate “Not everyone has gotten the same wage growth…”. Of course not, it’s an average, just like prices are an average. The point is, on average, wages have more than kept up with inflation. That’s not “messaging”, that’s a fact.

@JosephStigler @Yellow_Dog1959 @jamesetta_w Can quibble with amount but we were trying to avoid the primary Great Recession policy mistake, i.e. not spending enough to juice economy. The ripple effects of that policy mistake lasted nearly a decade & created all kinds of downstream social problems.

@Yellow_Dog1959 @jamesetta_w Biden actually caused a large portion of the inflation by signing the The American Rescue Plan Act on March 11, 2021. This bill printed $1.9 trillion and handed it out to everyone. The inflation problems started soon afterwards.

My unpopular opinion is that Biden’s econ team achieved their stated goal of world class Covid recovery, avoided recession (once thought inevitable), prioritized employment, navigated global inflation, and delivered benefits to the working class. it’s just that voters hated it.

@AbHomineDeus to be able to afford their mortgage and increasing property taxes. Next tier up jobs just aren't as available for people to climb the corporate ladder/income ladder.

@AbHomineDeus Id refine that. People feel stuck. People feel stuck in mortgages bc their interest rates when buying/refi were near 0. People who didn't own a home prior to recession feel stuck bc they can't afford one. People feel stuck in jobs bc older generation isn't retiring bc they have

It's housing. That's literally it. No one can afford a place of their own. They can't put down roots or start a family. The housing market has already crashed. This is as cheap as it's going to get and Millennials and younger are locked out.

@StatisticUrban People feel stuck. Stuck in their job. Stuck in their homes. Stuck without owning a home. Stuck feeling stressed about money. There's no end to that reality in sight and people feel the weight of that.

Everyone has a theory. Is it the rising cost of housing, healthcare, and childcare? Is it long-term inflation sticker shock? Is it social media? Is it the prospect of AI? Is it the beginner job market? No one knows.

@GypsyZuls @ZaidJilani Im not going to go back and forth on this point. You are simply wrong about her not being one of the front runners. poll.qu.edu/images/polling…

@_14numbers @ZaidJilani She was never front-runner in 2019-20. And surely you know that of the 20 or so people running each cycle only maybe 3-4 are actually running for POTUS. The rest are running for VP, a cabinet position, or a cable news gig.

Democrats weakest 2028 candidates: Harris: Repeated loser, just bad at politics Newsom: Carries all the California baggage AOC: Too many extreme views from prison abolition to quasi open borders

@PatrickSlayZee @TampaDan eligible labor pool & INCREASE the merit of those selected for the role over time.

@PatrickSlayZee @TampaDan based on the hiring departments existing social/professional network. Human social behavior shows that largely self selects for people of more or less similar social backgrounds. DEI is an attempted labor market reform trying to address that in order to INCREASE the actually

When I was at UF, they gave millions of dollars to DEI groups and refused to give my conservative club a single cent. I had to sue to get my First Amendment rights restored. DEI is racist crap used to force progressivism down our throats.

@GypsyZuls @ZaidJilani She was definitely a front runner at the beginning. Betting markets had her top 3 for quite some time. There is no primary election for VP. The winner of the presidential primary selects their VP.

@_14numbers @ZaidJilani She was never front runner in 2020. She was a newbie senator who ran for VP and got VP.

@PatrickSlayZee @TampaDan Are you actually open to the argument?

@TampaDan I still have not seen a proper argument in defense of DEI. It’s all just “blah blah maga” and nothing else Why is forced diversity superior to pure merit?

@GypsyZuls @ZaidJilani She was a front runner in 2020 then collapsed and didn't even make it till when voting started. Additionally, her 2020 primary campaign led to her 2024 defeat.

@ZaidJilani Why don’t you run, Mr. Perfect? And are you calling a woman who won 6/7 elections & came within a whisker of the 7th a “repeat loser”?! One who was the 1st woman & 1st person of color - male or female - in all but one of those elected offices “bad at politics”?! OK grandpa.

@betterATL It wasn't a flare. In congested areas, there's a legitimate argument for partitioned areas of the path for micro transit lanes. They would keep pedestrians safer & allow microtransit users to travel at a more consistently faster speed.

Anyways, I’m just spitballin here… But this is teeing up the solidification of a position among the city’s non elected leadership: beltline rail should be abandoned. The Norwood council move was a flare. It’s all very similar to the Public Safety center process.

Why would the chairman of Cox write an anti transit hit piece? Idk… but Cox owns autotrader, Kelley Blue Book, and Xtime(system a lot of srvc centers use to manage car maintenance info). Cox also invested 350 million dollars into… Rivian (Andre Dickens’ fave).

@Tad507 @tiredofinterne1 @rmh887723458 @jnmiranda7 @UF People think that the job market is merit based. It's not. It's relationship based and why LinkedIn exists. You get interviews based on who you know which directly limits who is actually considered for jobs. DEI initiatives are rooted in trying to combat that to INCREASE merit

@Tad507 @tiredofinterne1 @rmh887723458 @jnmiranda7 @UF I wouldnt consider that DEI tho. It's just an acknowledgement that rich people can pay top dollar to put their kids in test prep programs that artificially skew the top end of the test score bracket. Should be a signal to parents to emphasize different areas of development

I’ve been a proud @UF Gator due to the sense of belonging it fostered while I was there, so it’s disappointing to see UF officially turn its back on diversity, on equity, & on inclusion. We knew this was happening already. Just didn’t realize UF was a willing participant.