Plain Citizen

04/17/2026

On April 14, 2026, two members of Congress resigned under threat of expulsion. One Democrat, one Republican. Both facing sexual misconduct allegations involving staffers -- allegations they disputed in part. Both were given a deadline to resign or face an expulsion vote with bipartisan support to remove them.

Both resigned in time. And by doing so, both preserved something that expulsion would have cost them: a taxpayer-funded congressional pension.

That is not an accident. It is how the system works. And it has worked this way for both parties for decades.

04/16/2026

https://open.substack.com/pub/theplaincitizen/p/the-resignation-benefit?r=86y4zv&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true

By Tom McGorty | Plain Citizen | April 16, 2026

04/13/2026

Her February electric bill was $940.

Rebecca Michalski in Rainelle, West Virginia burns one lamp at night. Turns everything off during the day. She is on a fixed income. She took out a loan when she got the cut-off notice.

A few miles away, Ashley Dixon manages a Dollar General. House just over 1,000 square feet. No AC last summer. Her bills over the past year also topped $5,000.

West Virginia voted Trump in all 55 counties. Their average electric rate is up 73 percent since 2015.

Here is what nobody is telling them -- or you.

The four biggest tech companies spent $200 billion building data centers last year. Those data centers pay lower electricity rates than you do. And you are already being charged for data centers that have not even been built yet.

Plain Citizen went through the documented record. Every source cited. No spin.

Your electric bill is up 26 percent in four years. Utility companies booked $186 billion in profits. Big Tech built data centers that use as much power as entire cities -- and you are paying for it. Both parties let it happen.

04/11/2026

Who Broke Your Electric Bill?

Your electric bill is up 26 percent since 2022. Maybe you noticed.

Here is what you probably did not know: utility companies collected $186 billion in profits between 2021 and 2024. Data centers -- the ones running AI for Amazon, Google, Meta, and Microsoft -- now use as much electricity as entire cities, and that number is doubling. And $16 billion in power charges that were never actually consumed got passed directly to household bills anyway.

Both parties helped make this happen. Nobody held a press conference about it.

Plain Citizen went through the documented record -- the utility filings, the grid operator data, the federal energy reports -- and put it in plain language.

plaincitizen.com/electricbill.html

Part 2 is coming in the next day or two: what the government is doing with your tax dollars, your public land, and floating nuclear reactors to power the data center boom. Nobody asked you about that either.

Your electric bill is up 26 percent in four years. Utility companies booked $186 billion in profits. Big Tech built data centers that use as much power as entire cities -- and you are paying for it. Both parties let it happen.

04/10/2026

I started Plain Citizen because I got tired of watching ideas – from both parties – go unchallenged because the people pushing them are counting on the rest of us to stay quiet.

I am not a journalist. Not a policy expert. Not affiliated with any party. I am retired, living in East Texas with my partner Lora, and I have voted for presidents from both parties my entire life – Humphrey to Harris.
What I am is fed up. And I now have tools powerful enough to compete with the spin machines.

Every article at Plain Citizen starts with documented facts and ends with one ask: make up your own mind. No party line. No advertisers. No agenda.

The first thing I want you to read is the About page – why I started this, in plain language.

plaincitizen.com/about.html

04/09/2026

🚨 It’s live: PlainCitizen.com

No spin. No team jerseys.
Just sourced facts, documented quotes, and clear explanations so you can think for yourself.

If you’re done with the shouting and want the receipts, start here.

04/08/2026

NEW at Plain Citizen -- The 25th Amendment Is Not a Press Release

After the Kennedy assassination, Congress finally answered a question the Constitution had left unanswered for 180 years: what happens when a president cannot govern but will not step aside?

The answer became the 25th Amendment, ratified in 1967. Section 4 -- the involuntary removal provision -- has never been successfully used in American history.

This week 85+ Democratic lawmakers called for invoking it against President Trump. I have no argument with their frustration. But Plain Citizen applies the same standard to everyone -- so I went and read exactly what Section 4 requires and what a letter from a House member can actually do under it.

The answers may surprise you. Especially the part about who controls every single step of the process -- and what that person has said about using it.

No party. No agenda. Just the Constitution and the documented record.

https://plaincitizen.com/25th-amendment.html

-- Tom McGorty
Plain Citizen -- Independent Citizen. Independent Voter. Independent Thinker.

More than 85 Democratic lawmakers called for invoking the 25th Amendment this week. Here is what the amendment actually says, why it was written, and what a letter from a House member can and cannot do.

04/08/2026

NEW at Plain Citizen -- What About Us?

Here is the number that stopped me cold.

The average Social Security check in 2026: $1,976 a month.
The average private health insurance premium for a senior in 2026: $1,766 a month.

If Medicare ends, that leaves $210 a month for housing, food, utilities, and everything else.

That is not a political opinion. That is arithmetic.

The President promised at the State of the Union to always protect Medicare and Social Security. A month later he said the federal government cannot afford it and states should take over. Two days after that his 2027 budget proposed cutting $15.8 billion from HHS -- including $1.4 billion from the agency that runs Medicare.

All of it is documented. All of it is sourced. The conclusions are yours to make.

https://plaincitizen.com/america-first-article4-what-about-us.html

-- Tom McGorty
Plain Citizen -- Independent Citizen. Independent Voter. Independent Thinker.

The President said he would always protect Medicare and Social Security. Here is what the documented record shows -- and what happens if he gets his wish and the states take over.

04/07/2026

NEW at Plain Citizen -- The Cash Claim

For a decade you have heard it repeated on cable news, social media, and in political speeches: Obama filled planes with cash and handed it to Iran to buy their loyalty.

It is one of the most repeated claims in American politics. So I sat down and read the actual government record. The Treasury testimony. The State Department statements. The documents from the international tribunal at The Hague.

Here is what the record actually shows -- and it is not what you have been told.

No opinions. No partisan framing. Just the documents and what they say.

Read it and decide for yourself.

https://plaincitizen.com/iran-article1-cash-claim.html

-- Tom McGorty
Plain Citizen -- Independent Citizen. Independent Voter. Independent Thinker.

Trump said Obama filled a 747 with cash to pay Iran. Here is what the actual government record shows. Every document. Every hearing. Every fact.

04/07/2026

Welcome to Plain Citizen.

If you are frustrated with what you read in the news and on social media -- the misinformation, the misleading quotes, the outright lies that get shared thousands of times before anyone checks whether they are actually true -- you are in the right place.

Plain Citizen exists to do something about it. I dig into the stories, fact-check what is being written and stated, and report what I actually find. And I mean both sides. If a Democrat says something that does not hold up, I will report it. If a Republican does, same thing. The truth ought to matter regardless of who it helps or hurts.

Right now the America First -- For Whom? series is live. Five articles examining who Washington actually serves. Three are published. Two more are coming.

📖 Article 1: We're Getting Played -- NATO
📖 Article 2: $1.5 Trillion For What, Exactly?
📖 Article 3: The Government Can't Afford Daycare -- Unless You Work For It

Read them at plaincitizen.com. Make up your own mind. That is all I ask.

Follow this page for new articles as they publish. Comments and opinions from all directions are welcome. That is the whole point.

No party. No agenda. No spin.

plaincitizen.com

Here's the argument you've heard a hundred times: America pays more than any other country in NATO. We foot the bill while Germany, France, and the rest of them sit back and enjoy the protection. Why should hardworking American taxpayers subsidize the defense of wealthy European nations? Bring the t...