Nathan Benefield
Senior Vice President
An Ohio native, Nate holds an undergraduate degree in political science and economics and a master’s degree in public service management from DePaul University in Chicago. He also completed his doctoral studies (ABD) in political science at Loyola University, also in Chicago.
Nate joined the Commonwealth Foundation in 2005. Now as senior vice president, he provides strategic leadership as well as operational oversight spanning policy analysis, government relations, marketing, and communications.
Nate has researched and written extensively on public policy issues including the state budget, public sector labor reform, government spending and taxes, liquor privatization, education, and economic development. Under Nate’s policy leadership, the Commonwealth Foundation’s work on public sector pension law helped drive the bipartisan pension reform of 2017, heralded by the Wall Street Journal and Washington Post as an example for other states to follow.
Nate has testified numerous times before state legislative committees and is often called upon by legislators and members of the media to provide expertise. He is a frequent commentator on both television and radio, and his writings have appeared across the state and nationally in outlets including the Philadelphia Inquirer, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Patriot-News, and Weekly Standard.
Nate’s favorite rock song and personal motto are both “Don’t Stop Believin.”
Scarnati submits op-ed by Turnpike Commission
Frothing at the mouth, President Pro-Tem Joe Scarnati cites the “evil foreign company” argument as to why he won’t allow consideration of a Turnpike lease (even though several…
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Last Chance to Learn About Judges
Here are surveys/info about the judges up for election and retention: Democracy Rising Judicial SurveyPennsylvania Family Institute Voters’ Guide PA League of Women’s Voters Voters’…
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Stadiums and Subsidies: Home Run for Wealthy Team Owners, Strike-out for Taxpayers
National Taxpayers Union has put out a new analysis of taxpayer subsidized professional sports studiums.
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Why we blog
Nicholas Carr thinks Greg Mankiw should stop blogging. His rationale is the economic concept of “comparative advantage” – that is, Greg Mankiw is a brilliant economist and should…
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For-Profit Philly Schools show math gains
A new study finds that for-profit school management led to math test score gains in Philadelphia (News Release and AP Story): “The impact of for-profit…
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More on Free Markets v. Socialized Medicine
In response to the criticisms of cancer survival statistics used in a Giuliani ad, David Grazter has defended his statistic and provides additional data about survival rates…
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Peterson Calls on Turnpike Commission to Pull False, Toll-Funded Ads
Congressman Peterson calls on the Turnpike Commission to stop buying ads using toll revenue, that he calls a “misleading, disingenuous toll-paid media campaign, promoting the tolling of Interstate 80”.
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Another Great Milton Friedman Video
In this 30 minute video, Friedman explains why he is a “liberal,” not a “conservative; what is wrong with minimum wage laws (and why they are used to discriminate);…
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Audit: Management of Pa. business grants was lax
More criticism of the lack of monitoring, accountability, and compliance with laws in the state’s corporate welfare programs, this time from the Auditor’s office. Click here for the AP…
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Open Records Bills Updates
Jamie Blaine at PassOpenRecords.org on the House and Senate open records bills. UPDATE: Details of the Pennsylvania Freedom of Information Coalition (PaFOIC) and PA Newspaper Association Forum…
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Government Health Insurance Kills
Somebody needs to fact check FactCheck, like me. The group FactCheck.org issued a “fact check” on an ad by Rudy Giuliani comparing health care in the UK and…
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Great Milton Friedman Video
In 2 minutes, Milton Friedman explains the errors of socialism, the benefits of free markets, and public choice theory, all while making Donahue look silly. HT: The…
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Pension Resources
As you may have heard, Rep Scott Boyd introduced a pension reform bill (News Release) – based on some of our recommendations and research. More information and resources: Rep…
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Which schools are “Dropout Factories”?
ABC 27 Harrisburg, ABC 6 Philadelphia, Carlisle Sentinel, Pittsburgh Post Gazette, Philadelphia Daily News and others have all had stories about “Dropout Factories” – i.e. schools…
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Critics say open records bill not open enough
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on the Senate open records bill and its many weaknesses, in light of improvements we support: Common Cause/Pennsylvania Executive Director Barry Kauffman called the…
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No I-80 Tolls = Less money for SEPTA
The Turnpike Commission posted a summary of Lease and Funding agreement for tolling I-80. Not too much new here except for one major inconsistency … $300 million shall be…
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Big Government draws Lobbyist Gifts
In another exposé of how Harrisburg works, Peter Jackson of the AP looks at the lobbyist spending and gift-giving. Why all the money ? Health care lobbyists want to…
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What do Liberals and Conservatives like?
Patrick Ruffini’s blog does an analysis of Facebook data to determine what conservatives, liberals, and moderates enjoy: Radiohead Republicans … There just aren’t that many of them…
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AP: Corporate Welfare Doesn’t Work
Marc Levy of the AP with analysis of taxpayer subsidized businesses and job growth in Pennsylvania: To date, the Rendell administration has offered $1.7 billion in aid through…
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Imbeciles against WAMs
Yet another article on corporate welfare programs, by Rick Fellinger in Chambersburg Public Opinion, this one focusing on WAMs. In spite of Johnna Pro’s claim “there’s no such…
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Political hacks give bad policy advice
Dick Morris offers the opinion that President Bush should sign the SCHIP expansion. Why? Because is a smaller version of socialized medicine than “Hillary Care” and will “take the…
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