Erik Telford
Senior Vice President of Public Affairs
Erik Telford is the Senior Vice President of Public Affairs at the Commonwealth Foundation.
Erik is a senior public affairs and communications executive with more than 15 years of diverse experience across public policy, advocacy, and public affairs institutions. Before joining the Commonwealth Foundation, Erik served as the senior vice president at Stand Together Communications, the Koch network’s marketing and communications capability. Erik has also served as the president of the Franklin Center for Government & Public Integrity, a state-based watchdog journalism organization. And at Americans for Prosperity, he was the executive director of RightOnline (an initiative he founded) and the director of membership and online strategy. He is currently on the board of the American Commitment Foundation.
In 2013, Campaigns & Elections Magazine honored Erik as an “Advocacy Innovator” and in 2011 as a “Rising Star in American Politics.” Politics Online named him one of the “Top 10 Who Are Changing the World of Internet and Politics.”
Blog Roundup
Check out these noteworthy posts that showed up in the blogosphere this week: The Tax Foundation tells us why “state budget deficits” is a loaded meaningless term used by…
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PennFuture: Just Give Us Your Money Already
Like Gov. Ed Rendell, PennFuture today held a whining session (were they at the same one?) about the Senate’s “failure” to pass a severance tax on natural…
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Read More: PennFuture: Just Give Us Your Money AlreadyRegulation
Commonwealth Foundation President Calls Pension Reform “Bailout for Union Bosses”
HARRISBURG, PA (10.12.10) – Commonwealth Foundation president and CEO Matthew J. Brouillette released the following statement regarding HB 2497 — the so-called SERS & PSERS pension reform legislation currently before…
Press Release
Read More: Commonwealth Foundation President Calls Pension Reform “Bailout for Union Bosses”
Rendell: Just Give Me Your Money Already
Gov. Ed “if you vote for Republicans you might die” Rendell held another lame-duck press conference today to quack about not getting higher taxes. Whining that the PA Constitutional…
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Read More: Rendell: Just Give Me Your Money AlreadyHealth Care
Big Gas, Big Fast Food Chains, and Big Government
PA Independent reports that the largest drillers in the Marcellus Shale sat in on the Rendell and the Conquistadors’ Columbus Day meeting: Although 75 companies currently operate wells…
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Read More: Big Gas, Big Fast Food Chains, and Big GovernmentTaxes & Economy
PA Should Learn Lesson and Stop Subsidizing Housing Construction
This week the State Senate could pass a House bill to create a new housing trust fund for areas where affordable housing is in short supply due to the recession…
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Salt-storage sheds are unsafe, state officials say
Media Hit
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What About the Constitution, Governor?
Recently Nate Benefield explained how Senate Bill 1155, which creates a severance tax on natural gas drilling companies, is unconstitutional. Katrina Currie subsequently updated the story:…
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Read More: What About the Constitution, Governor?State Budget
Spending Revolt Tour: Day 5 Update
The Spending Revolt National Tour stopped in Scranton on Sunday night for a Town Hall meeting, which was streamed live (and available here and below). The Scranton…
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Read More: Spending Revolt Tour: Day 5 UpdateTaxes & Economy
Too Much Spending or Not Enough Taxes?
Chart-master Veronique de Rugy sums up the debate over extending the tax cuts and federal deficits in a simple chart. The dominant blue bar represents the mind-boggling $42 trillion…
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Read More: Too Much Spending or Not Enough Taxes?Government Accountability
More Taxpayer-Funded Lobbying for Higher Taxes
I have highlighted the taxpayer funded propaganda in the guise of a “newsletter,” titled the Marcellus Shale Examiner, before. The latest newsletter, which leads with Gov. Rendell’s “We…
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Read More: More Taxpayer-Funded Lobbying for Higher Taxes
Spending Revolt bus rolls into Scranton with anti-government message
Topics on this page Scranton…
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Whether Tom Corbett or Dan Onorato is next Pennsylvania governor, homeowners can expect higher property taxes
Topics on this page Dan OnoratoPennsylvaniaTom Corbett…
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Spending Revolt Tour: Day 3 Update
Day two of Spending Revolt took us to Connellsville, where I spoke with Peter Thande, a young man from Kenya who will become a U.S. citizen in 2011. He turned…
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Former PA House Speaker Bob O’Donnell Joins Commonwealth Foundation
HARRISBURG, PA — The Commonwealth Foundation is pleased to announce that former Democratic Pennsylvania House Speaker Robert W. O’Donnell has joined its Center for Educational Excellence as a senior fellow.
Press Release
Read More: Former PA House Speaker Bob O’Donnell Joins Commonwealth FoundationTaxes & Economy
We are All Fiscal Conservatives Now
My remarks at PA Liberty Conference I’ll start with a question I often get…or at least a question that is often proffered to no one in particular, that I…
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Read More: We are All Fiscal Conservatives Now
Spending Revolt bus makes stop in Fayette County
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Pa. should emulate Delaware, not Calif.
Topics on this page Delaware…
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Read More: Pa. should emulate Delaware, not Calif.Regulation
Unintended Consequences of the Bulb Ban
The national phase-out of incandescent light bulbs begins in 2012, and by 2014, incandescents will be history. The popular replacement is the compact-fluorescent light (CFL), but there are very…
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