✒ PEN TO POWEREVIDENCE. TRANSPARENCY. ACCOUNTABILITY.

PEN TO POWER INDEXES

THREE PERSPECTIVES ON THE AMERICAN ECONOMY

Explore affordability today, and follow the development of our wage and national economic measures.

PEN TO POWER

WHAT YOUR PAYCHECK ACTUALLY BUYS

Illustrative overview of the United States affordability index; inspect the interactive index for current state data
50 STATES + DC20 MEASURES6 PILLARS

What your paycheck actually buys across 50 states and the District of Columbia.

Explore the Affordability Index

PEN TO POWER

HOW WELL EARNINGS MEET THE REAL COSTS

Illustrative ungraded blue United States map; no wage scores publishedILLUSTRATIVE · NO STATE GRADES
51 JURISDICTIONSWAGE ADEQUACYPENDING CERTIFICATION

How well earnings meet the real costs of living, across different workers and households.

Index pending statistical certification

PEN TO POWER

A BROADER VIEW OF NATIONAL CONDITIONS

Illustrative blue United States map; economic index results not publishedILLUSTRATIVE · NO STATE GRADES
2026 BASELINEWAGES + AFFORDABILITYIN DEVELOPMENT

A planned combined perspective on affordability, wages, and economic conditions.

Index under development
The Affordability Index links to its existing data and methodology. The two development panels are illustrative only and do not display measured state grades.

EXPLORE THE INSTITUTION

PEN TO POWER RESEARCH DIVISIONS

Choose a door. Every division begins with evidence, explains the method, connects the record and preserves every revision.

Congressional Records

Meet Your Congress

Professional record cards for every House and Senate member: sponsored laws, votes, tenure, committees, campaign finance and fiscal record.

Explore the 119th Congress
Professional sample congressional record card
Judicial Gateway

Top 10 Cases

Enter American constitutional history through ten landmark decisions, their questions, timelines, votes and primary opinions.

Explore cases
Scales of justice and legal archive
Judicial Records

Judicial Vault

Search court opinions, procedural histories, constitutional questions, majority reasoning and dissents.

Enter the Vault
Supreme Court building
Citizen's Manual

Laws Explained

See the law before, what changed, the law today, who is affected, fiscal effects and the primary documents.

Explore laws
Open law books
Executive Records

White House Documents

Executive orders, proclamations, memoranda and presidential records in chronological order.

View documents
White House

LEARN · TEST · READ · WATCH

PEN TO POWER CLASSROOMS

Five more doors into the public record — visual lessons, books, quizzes, publishing and curated educational video.

The Classroom

Class Is In Session

Facts. Context. No Spin. Visual lessons built around Who, What, When, Where, Why and the Bottom Line.

Enter the Classroom
Class Is In Session civic education lesson
Pen to Power Library

Pen to Power Books

Long-form Pen to Power research, history and civic education.

Explore the Books
Test Yourself

Test Your Knowledge

Randomized questions drawn from Pen to Power lessons, government records, history, law and economics.

Take a Test
Publishing & Social

Pen to Power Publishing

Articles, graphics, commentary and research releases on Substack, X and TikTok.

Follow Pen to Power
Curated Learning

The Video Classroom

Educational video organized by subject: civics, speeches, history, government, economics and classic explainers.

Watch & Learn

THE PEN TO POWER STANDARD

Do not trust the grade. Inspect the evidence that produced it.

The Affordability Index uses the best official data available on the publication date. When a source agency revises a release, Pen to Power recalculates the affected results, documents the revision and preserves the previous version as part of the permanent public record.

Inspect the Methodology
CHALLENGE THE RECORD Corrections, better sources and discrepancies are welcome. PenToPowerMoon@gmail.com

PEN TO POWER

Mission Statement

Welcome to Pen to Power

You are not subscribing to another news website. You are joining a lifelong civic education platform.

Help ordinary Americans understand how their government works by following the evidence wherever it leads.

We believe an informed citizen is one of the strongest protections of a constitutional republic. That begins with primary documents, clear explanations and continuous learning.

This Site Is Different

Most websites compete for your attention. We compete for your understanding.

Every exhibit is built around evidence. Every law traces back to its source. Every claim can be verified. Every update becomes part of the permanent public record.

Learn at Your Own Pace

Spend five minutes learning the basics, twenty minutes understanding the details, or inspect every document, hearing, court opinion, regulation and source behind the exhibit.

Evidence Comes First

Analysis has value. Opinions have value. But evidence comes first. Always.

We are not asking you to trust us. We are inviting you to verify everything yourself.

A Living Library

Bills become laws. Laws generate regulations. Courts interpret statutes. Agencies issue guidance. Economic data are revised. Every exhibit grows alongside the public record.

This is a living library—not a static website.

Our Commitment

We are committed to building the finest citizen-facing legislative and public policy reference library in America.

Government writes the law.
We explain it.
The evidence speaks for itself.

Welcome to Pen to Power. Your civic education begins here.