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Caitie Whelan

Caitie Whelan

How Much Do Your Legislators Make

"Bush horrified to learn Presidential salary," the October 2000 Onion article read. "A measly couple hundred grand a year?" the soon-to-be-president was "quoted" as saying. "Not per month, even? Because I've already spent more than $60 million to get this job.

How Politicians Form Opinions

By the time Carol Barr's heart gave out one June 16, her husband had left for work. Her coworkers saw her collapse on Zoom. Mitral valve prolapse, her obituary would say. Carol had been diagnosed with it in seventh grade. It's not a big deal, the

Learning the Rules of the Game

If I asked you to join my baseball game, but you'd never played and didn't know the rules, you might find the experience a little frustrating. And democracy can be a bit like this, can't it? We're asked to participate – a healthy

A Secret of the Best Advocates

If you look at the bios of the big league advocates or lobbyists, there's a secret hidden in plain sight. And it's that your headshot needs to have you with your arms crossed looking steely eyed into the camera like You. Mean. Business. Actually, the secret

How to Win at Policymaking

The journalist David Plotz has what he calls the Plotz Principle, and I'm here to say that it might be one of the smartest, most underutilized policy strategies out there. Whomever is having the most fun wins. Take - as we recently discussed here - Connecticut Congresswoman Rosa

The Brilliance of Pizza Policy

On a warm day in May, Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro from Connecticut took to the steps of the Capitol. "We are here to declare that New Haven is the pizza capital of the United States!" she enthused to a cheering delegation of roughly 100 CT pizza makers holding pizza

The Fascinating, Often Dysfunctional Marriage of Politics & Policy

Wheat grown in Kansas, shipped from northern California ports, and rotting in shipping containers overseas tells a fascinating story of the dynamic at the heart of American policymaking. Back in the roaring 1950s, Congress passed the Agricultural Trade Development and Assistance Act which did a whole lot, but we'

Two Words to Up Your Policy Game

I was once at a country fair filled with blooming onions and handmade soaps, workshops on sheep shearing and DIY blacksmithing. I stopped into a talk on climate advocacy where the audience sat on hay bales and the presenter gave a super overview on how to be a climate advocate.

Three Powerful Policy Words

The U.S. Senators from Maryland and Virginia were not well pleased with the recent Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) reauthorization. The FAA oversees aviation (of the non-military varietal) in the United States, including things like air traffic controllers, airport modernization, and consumer protections. More on all that here. And reauthorization

The Different Kinds of Power a Politician Can Have

Once, at a town meeting about off-leash hours (a hot and contentious local issue if ever there was one), a bird lover used a distinction I've never forgotten. There's perception and there's reality, he said. The reality is that off-leash dogs generally aren'