Episode #83: The Government Is Watching You… Now You Can Watch Them | Thomas Dykes
From The Ever Forward Mindset · 00:18:03
Show by Michael Rebelo
What if you could track your government as easily as the government can track you?In this episode of the Ever Forward Mindset Podcast, recorded at FreedomFest 2026, Michael Rebelo sits down with Thomas Dykes of Citizen Portal to discuss how technology and artificial intelligence are changing the way everyday Americans can follow what is happening inside their local, state, and federal governments.Thomas explains how Citizen Portal collects and organizes government meetings and uses AI-powered tools to help users search, summarize, and analyze government activity. He shares how citizens can follow issues they care about—from land use and business licensing to taxes, infrastructure, development, and emerging technology—without sitting through hours of government meetings.The conversation also takes an interesting turn for investors and business owners.Michael explains how a change involving a tax-abatement law once caused his team to walk away from a real estate investment after the numbers changed. Thomas discusses how following local government activity could help investors identify policy changes, development activity, land-use issues, infrastructure projects, and other information that may affect an investment market.They also discuss government transparency, AI, civic participation, communicating with elected representatives, and why understanding what government officials actually do can matter just as much as what they say.⏱️ TIMESTAMPS00:00 — Introduction: What if citizens could watch the government?01:19 — Who is Thomas Dykes?01:40 — What is Citizen Portal?03:06 — How government transparency can help everyday Americans03:35 — Using AI to understand complicated local laws04:36 — Tracking government issues across the country05:14 — AI, surveillance and government accountability06:04 — What makes Citizen Portal different07:31 — Making government information easier to access08:03 — Using AI to communicate with representatives08:33 — Why businesses and investors are using government data09:15 — How government policy can affect real estate investments10:21 — Tracking laws, regulations and government activity10:59 — Finding investment and development signals in local government11:56 — Looking beyond political labels and examining actual policies12:56 — Researching officials and their positions on specific issues13:28 — Citizen Portal's planned Freedom Portal14:24 — Giving citizens better tools and information15:22 — How to learn more about Citizen Portal16:02 — Thomas's final message on liberty, rights and civic involvement16:51 — Closing thoughtsCitizen Portal:https://citizenportal.ai/Ever Forward Mindset Podcast:https://linktr.ee/everforwardmindsetpodcast#EverForwardMindset #CitizenPortal #ThomasDykes #ArtificialIntelligence #GovernmentTransparency #FreedomFest #RealEstateInvesting #Entrepreneurship
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