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
CF Budget Forum on PCN
If you missed todays lunch discussion with Sens. Jake Corman and Jay Costa on the Pennsylvania budget, it is set to air tomorrow at 1 pm on PCN, with…
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Read More: CF Budget Forum on PCNTaxes & Economy
CF Budget Forum on PCN
If you missed todays lunch discussion with Sens. Jake Corman and Jay Costa on the Pennsylvania budget, it is set to air tomorrow at 1 pm on PCN, with…
Media
Read More: CF Budget Forum on PCNTaxes & Economy
Tax and Spend Polices are Recipe for Disaster
My letter to the editor in the Post-Gazette: The state’s tax-and-spend policies are a recipe for disasterSharon Ward’s Jan. 28 Perspectives piece (“Keep…
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Read More: Tax and Spend Polices are Recipe for DisasterTaxes & Economy
The need to “do something”
Matt Lewis has an entertaining post on the need to “do something” with regard to the federal “stimulus” – comparing it to a 19th century doctor pressed to “do…
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Read More: The need to “do something”Taxes & Economy
More waste, no-bid contracts, in PA budget
Pennsylvania Auditor General Jack Wagner has a draft of an audit blasting the Rendell adminstration for its technology contracts, specifically with Deloitte, the Patriot News Reports.
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Read More: More waste, no-bid contracts, in PA budgetTaxes & Economy
Please, No More Taxes! Video Contest
$4,000 in cash prizes for citizens to help raise awareness of PA’s painful tax burden HARRISBURG, PA — The Commonwealth Foundation today announced its Please, No More Taxes!…
Press Release
Read More: Please, No More Taxes! Video ContestEducation
For-Profit Philadelphia Schools Show Gains
A new study by Paul Peterson and Matthew Chingos finds that the Philadelphia public schools contracted out to for-profit operators showed significant gains in student achievement. Specifically, the…
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Gov. Rendell, you’re wrong too!
I posted a blog over at Capital Domes, “Mr. Specter, You’re Wrong!”, on the argument being put forth by Pres. Obama and our senior state senator that “nearly all…
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Read More: Gov. Rendell, you’re wrong too!Taxes & Economy
How well has more spending worked up until now?
The Morning Call’s John Micek makes a joke on his blog about the effectiveness of tax cuts in stimulating the economy: Hardcore GOPers, asked for their alternative,…
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Read More: How well has more spending worked up until now?Taxes & Economy
With All Due Respect, Mr. Specter
“The country cannot afford not to take action,” Senator Arlen Specter writes in the Washington Post justifying support for the “stimulus” package, mimicking the statement by President Obama “There…
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Read More: With All Due Respect, Mr. SpecterGovernment Accountability
Pennsylvania Legislature’s growing girth
Robert Swift has a good article on the “professionalization” of the Pennsylvania legislature, including breaking down the cost of a legislator: At $78,314, the annual salary…
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How Government Created the Financial Crisis
John Taylor in the Wall Street Journal on how Government created the financial crisis: Monetary excesses were the main cause of the boom. The Fed held its…
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Read More: How Government Created the Financial CrisisEducation
The Great College Hoax
Forbes has an excellent article on the merits of college – and taxpayer subsidies of higher ed – even as Governor Rendell proposes legalized video poker to put…
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Read More: The Great College HoaxTaxes & Economy
Libertarian ideas to stimulate economy
Jeffrey A. Miron has a list of libertarian proposals to stimulate the economy (I would expect most self-described “conservatives” would agree with 8 of the 9 proposals): Repeal the…
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Please No More Taxes Video Contest
Are you tired of paying high taxes? Enter the Commonwealth Foundation’s “Please No More Taxes” video contest and win up to $2,500! Go to PleaseNoMoreTaxes.org for contest rules.
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Read More: Please No More Taxes Video ContestTaxes & Economy
The GOP Has a Dumb Mortgage Idea
In the Wall Street Journal, Ed Glaeser rips the US Senate GOP’s plans to underwrite mortgages and offer an additional tax credit for home-buyers More criticism of this…
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Read More: The GOP Has a Dumb Mortgage IdeaTaxes & Economy
Commonwealth Foundation Launches Please, No More Taxes! Campaign
HARRISBURG, PA — The Commonwealth Foundation today announced the launch of the Please, No More Taxes! campaign, a public education effort aimed at the elimination of wasteful state spending and…
Press Release
Read More: Commonwealth Foundation Launches Please, No More Taxes! CampaignEducation
Special Needs Scholarship Could Replace School for the Deaf
There has been a lot of public outcry against Governor Rendell’s proposal to close the Scranton School for the Deaf, as well as the Scotland School…
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Read More: Special Needs Scholarship Could Replace School for the DeafEducation
The School District Consolidation Myth
As part of his budget, Governor Rendell proposed creating a commission on consolidating PA school districts (and it turns out, he may intend to do so even if the legislature…
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Read More: The School District Consolidation MythEducation
Economists Against Governor Rendell
In his budget address, Governor Rendell cited “conservative” economists who support the stimulus package and his spending proposals, even though they don’t. Here is Rendell: Economists from…
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Read More: Economists Against Governor RendellState Budget
Commonwealth Foundation Statement on Gov. Ed Rendell’s Budget Address
HARRISBURG, PA — Commonwealth Foundation President and CEO Matthew J. Brouillette issued the following statement today in response to Gov. Rendell’s 2009-10 Budget Address: “Gov. Rendell’s reliance on one-time federal…
Press Release
Read More: Commonwealth Foundation Statement on Gov. Ed Rendell’s Budget Address