L. Walker, Jr.

Tax Simplification, Part II blackandcenter.blog/2011/11/17/tax… #Taxes

@MLBShotsFired Haha! Did you drink all 17 of those Coors Light’s yourself?

Inflation is completely out of control, you can’t even take 3 kids to a Detroit Tigers game anymore without spending an arm and a leg! Crazy!

As the Georgia governor’s race begins to take shape and Keisha Lance Bottoms emerges as the leading Democrat, let’s not forget the name Secoriea Turner. After the shooting of Rayshard Brooks, Keisha Bottoms allowed armed groups to take over the intersection of University Avenue and Pryor Street where a child with her whole life ahead of her was murdered because her Mother got off on the wrong exit. It’s also worth noting that all Officers involved in the shooting of Rayshard Brooks were later fully exonerated. Leadership means protecting the people you serve. Atlanta deserved that then, and Georgia deserves it now.

@grok @JBPritzker Rank all states by those with the highest real per capita personal income?

**Real per capita personal income (BEA data adjusted via regional price parities for cost of living) shows a strong red-state presence at the top.** Latest available figures rank Wyoming (red) #1, followed closely by states like Connecticut (blue), North Dakota (red), and others. Many high real-income states are red or energy/resource-heavy with lower COL, narrowing or reversing the nominal wage gaps seen in blue states.

$7.25 an hour is about $14,000 a year. No one can survive on that. People can barely survive on double that. We raised the minimum wage in Illinois. It's long overdue everywhere else.

@grok @JBPritzker So which states have the highest real per capita income and are they red or blue?

Yes, largely. Those top-wage states (MA, CA, NY, WA) also rank among the highest in cost of living: MA ~151, CA ~137, NY ~127, WA ~114 (U.S. avg=100). Housing is the main driver. Nominal wages are higher, but after COL adjustment, real purchasing power narrows the gap—some red states like Wyoming lead in real per capita income.

@grok @JBPritzker Is that because the cost of living is higher in those states compared to the rest?

The states with the highest average annual wages (real market wages from BLS data, far above minimums) in 2026 are: Massachusetts: $83,050 (blue) Washington: $81,550 (blue) New York: $80,630 (blue) California: $79,900 (blue) Of the top 10, 9 are blue states and 1 is red (Alaska). High real wages cluster in blue states, just like top minimum wages.

@grok @JBPritzker @grok And which states pay the highest amount of real wages above the minimum by red versus blue?

The states with the highest minimum wages as of 2026 are all blue states (Harris 2024): - Washington: $17.13 - New York: $17.00 (NYC/Long Island/Westchester area); $16.00 rest of state - Connecticut: $16.94 - California: $16.90 Of the top 5, 100% are blue (0% red). DC leads at $17.95 but is not a state.

@grok @JBPritzker @grok which states actually pay the highest wages, and what percentage are red versus blue?

**30 states (plus DC) have minimum wages above the federal $7.25.** **20 states follow the federal $7.25 rate:** Alabama, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Hampshire, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Wisconsin, Wyoming. Of those 20, **19 are red** (Trump 2024) and **1 is blue** (New Hampshire).

@JBPritzker @grok @grok So democrats pushing for a higher federal minimum wage are basically full of crap, right?

@JBPritzker @grok What percentage of workers in the US actually earn the minimum wage?

@JBPritzker @grok @grok What percentage of minimum wage workers are part-time?

@JBPritzker @grok @grok That’s what I thought. So @JBPritzker is speaking to a very tiny percentage of workers, most of whom are below the voting age. Correct?

@JBPritzker @grok That’s what I thought. So @JBPritzker is speaking to a very tiny percentage of workers, most of whom are below the voting age. Correct?

@IamKingWilliams That means promises made, promises kept.

One of the worst things local and nat’l media have done is to portray Brian Kemp as this stoic, compassionate conservative when in reality, he is just as extreme as the governors in Texas in Florida and takes the same direction from ALEC, Evangelicals, and The Heritage Foundation

At some point I need to stop obliging people, but here is my ballot list in Georgia. ewerickson.substack.com/p/fine-here-yo…

@grok @JoeyMannarino Are you taking into account the recent US Supreme Court’s ruling in favor of gerrymandering?

The GOP's slim House majority (currently ~217-212 with vacancies) is vulnerable in 2026 midterms, as the president's party has lost seats in 18 of the last 20 midterms. Forecasts give Democrats a strong edge to flip control via net gains in competitive districts nationwide. Georgia's 14 seats (9R-4D-1 vacancy) are mostly safe for incumbents on both sides. Any GOP losses there would be minor and not decisive—broader shifts in states with more toss-ups would drive the outcome. It's probable the GOP loses ground overall due to national trends.

Why does Brian Kemp think it’s okay to drag his feet and not redistrict for 2026? Does he not understand the urgency of keeping the House for Republicans? Does he not understand that losing the House will result in a Trump impeachment? Or is that his goal?

@grok @JoeyMannarino So, if the GOP loses its majority in 2026 will it be Georgia’s fault, or due to loses in other states? Or, is it even probable that the GOP can lose ground?

@blackandcenter @JoeyMannarino Georgia's U.S. House delegation (14 seats total) currently stands at **9 Republicans, 4 Democrats, and 1 vacancy** in the 119th Congress. This is the composition heading into the 2026 midterms.

Brian Kemp pushed through the state legislature: - school choice - Religious Freedom Restoration Act - bans on boys in girls’ sports - tort reform - election reform - Tebow Act - a human trafficking crackdown - tax cuts - expanded prosecution powers for the Attorney General to combat local woke prosecutors - etc. etc. etc. Plus he reopened Georgia before any other state during COVID, getting attacked by both President Trump and the leftwing media at the time for doing so. And he’s run budget surpluses and refunded money to taxpayers. But the state Republican Party apparatus would rather blame him for things he didn’t do than help him get more Republicans elected. This is why the GOP in Georgia keeps losing winnable races these days. The party apparatus has been hijacked by professional victims who’d rather complain and re-litigate past elections than actually try to win future races. Georgia risks going left because the Republican Party in the State of Georgia is the GOP’s own worst enemy, turning success into the enemy, and complaining instead of working to persuade voters. We’re watching the Democrats in Georgia coordinate to take over the State Supreme Court while the Republican Party whines about 2020 all over again.

@ewarren Notice she didn’t say, get out and vote, but rather “get out and fight”. Why are dems always promoting violence? You’re not going to stop anything, and judges are nonpartisan, not MAGA republicans.

Did you know that Donald Trump could appoint two more Supreme Court Justices?