Erik Telford

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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.” 

Taxes & Economy

Is the Stimulus Working?

  • Nathan Benefield
  • August 13, 2009

Over at Cato, Chris Edwards asks Is the Stimulus Working?, taking a look at the components of GDP. As Edwards notes, “Government expansions usually cause private sector contractions” and…

Media

Read More: Is the Stimulus Working?

Health Care

Government Managed Health Care isn’t the “Reform” We Need

  • Nathan Benefield
  • August 13, 2009

The Independence Institute has another great video on the problems when government makes health care decisions – this time use Oregon as an example, and how they prioritize Medicaid…

Media

Read More: Government Managed Health Care isn’t the “Reform” We Need

Education

Is the PSSA Too Easy?

  • Nathan Benefield
  • August 12, 2009

The Allegheny Institute takes issue with the latest round of Pennsylvania test results – specifically the 8th grade reading PSSA. They note that not only does the 8th grade…

Media

Read More: Is the PSSA Too Easy?

Regulation

Philadelphia Pension “Reform” is Generational Theft

  • August 12, 2009

CF testifies to PA Senate on HB 1828  HARRISBURG, PA — Commonwealth Foundation senior fellow Rick Dreyfuss testified today before the Pennsylvania Senate Finance Committee that changes in the…

Press Release

Read More: Philadelphia Pension “Reform” is Generational Theft

Blog Roundup

  • Nathan Benefield
  • August 12, 2009

Here are some recent citations, links, or mentions of the Commonwealth Foundation from Pennsylvania bloggers: PA WaterCooler notes the odds of getting laid off in the public vs. private…

Media

Read More: Blog Roundup

Health Care

Lebanon Health Care Town Hall Anything but Un-American

  • August 11, 2009

I attended the Patient’s First rally in conjunction to with Arlen Specter’s today’s town hall rally at Harrisburg Area Community College in Lebanon today.  The vast majority of the crowd  (inside…

Media

Read More: Lebanon Health Care Town Hall Anything but Un-American

State Budget

How Do Pennsylvania Taxes Stack Up?

  • August 11, 2009

Since 1990, Pennsylvania has gone from 24th in state and local tax burden to 11th.  Yet Gov. Rendell has proposed another round of tax hikes—including raising the state…

Fact Sheet

Read More: How Do Pennsylvania Taxes Stack Up?

State Budget

Putting Rendell’s Layoffs in Perspective

  • Nathan Benefield
  • August 11, 2009

Yesterday, Gov. Rendell announced layoffs for 255 state workers at a press conference, and said more might be coming if lawmakers don’t pass a budget to Rendell’s liking. But…

Media

Read More: Putting Rendell’s Layoffs in Perspective

Health Care

Effect of ObamaCare on Pennsylvania

  • Nathan Benefield
  • August 11, 2009

The Heritage Foundation has a new analysis from the Lewin Group on the impact in Pennsylvania on private health care coverage, the uninsured, and physicians and hospitals of the…

Media

Read More: Effect of ObamaCare on Pennsylvania

Health Care

Rendell Declares Autism Mandate a Failure

  • Nathan Benefield
  • August 10, 2009

In 2008, the Pennsylvania General Assembly passed, and Gov. Rendell signed, a new mandate that private insurers would have to cover autism services. At the time, we said the new…

Media

Read More: Rendell Declares Autism Mandate a Failure

Education

School District Consolidation Shows Few Benefits

  • Nathan Benefield
  • August 10, 2009

Last week, the Senate Education Committee held a hearing on proposed school district consolidation. The Allegheny Institute testified, noting that there is little evidence to suggest that consolidation (as…

Media

Read More: School District Consolidation Shows Few Benefits

State Budget

Cash for Clunkers Falls Prey to Laws of Economics

  • Nathan Benefield
  • August 10, 2009

Congress’s  ill-named “cash for clunkers” program has, like so many programs before it, failed to defy the laws of economics. As typically happens when government subsidizes something – the…

Media

Read More: Cash for Clunkers Falls Prey to Laws of Economics

Health Care

Join the “Mob”

  • Nathan Benefield
  • August 10, 2009

You might find it interesting that the special interests who denounce individuals voicing opposition to ObamaCare as “astroturf,” a “mob,” and part of a vast right-wing conspiracy (and occasionally…

Media

Read More: Join the “Mob”

Government Accountability

Expose Media Bias, Make Money

  • Elizabeth Stelle
  • August 10, 2009

Tired of media bias, factual errors, and false assumptions? The National Review Institute is offering compensation for anyone who submits “short posts identifying the factual errors, lazy clichés, loaded terms,…

Media

Read More: Expose Media Bias, Make Money