Koch Network Pushed $1 Billion Cut to CDC,Now Attacks Shelter-in-Place Policies for Harming Business [View all]
Charles Koch Network Pushed $1 Billion Cut to CDC, Now Attacks Shelter-in-Place Policies for Harming Business
Lee Fang
March 26 2020, 3:20 p.m.
Americans for Prosperity, the pro-corporate pressure group founded and funded by billionaire industrialist Charles Koch, wants employees to return to work despite desperate pleas from public health officials that people should stay home as much as possible to help contain the spread of the coronavirus.
As states began to order nonessential businesses to shut down last week, AFP released a statement calling for all businesses to remain open.
Rather than blanket shutdowns, the government should allow businesses to continue to adapt and innovate to produce the goods and services Americans need, while continuing to do everything they can to protect the public health, said Emily Seidel, chief executive of AFP, in a press release.
Some of the groups state chapters have taken a similar tone. AFP Pennsylvanias state director, as well as a regional director with the group, have taken to Twitter to lambast shelter-in-place policies. The Michigan chapter of AFP on Monday slammed Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmers stay-at-home order, which closed down fitness centers, nail salons, amusement parks, casinos, and other businesses deemed nonessential, calling it the wrong approach for our state.
https://theintercept.com/2020/03/26/americans-for-prosperity-cdc-coronavirus/