Trolling for "scandal" is very unattractive ~ and suggests deep desperation ~ ~ Sooz

GOP Leaders Warn Pro Sports Leagues Not To Promote Obamacare
Sahil Kapur- June 28, 2013, 4:34 PM
Updated: 5:15 P.M.

Senate Republican leaders have sent letters warning six professional sports leagues not to provide the Obama administration any assistance in promoting Obamacare.

The letters, dated June 27, warn the chiefs of the National Football League, Major League Baseball, National Basketball Association, National Hockey League, Professional Golf Association and NASCAR that partnering with the administration to publicize the benefits of the health care law would damage their reputations.

“Given the divisiveness and persistent unpopularity of this bill, it is difficult to understand why an organization like yours would risk damaging its inclusive and apolitical brand by lending its name to its promotion,” wrote Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and Minority Whip John Cornyn (R-TX).

The letters come days after Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said she’s spoken with the NFL about potentially partnering to let people know the benefits of the Affordable Care Act ahead of the implementation of its major components. (She said there was no deal yet.) The Republican senators rattled off a slew of conservative arguments against the law, stressing polls that signal its unpopularity with the public.

The letter also suggests the Obama administration could be threatening the pro sports leagues to extract support for Obamacare:


Republicans have been working feverishly to gum up implementation of the Affordable Care Act. And they’ve launched investigations into HHS and Sebelius for asking health industry groups to help promote the law. The senators warned the pro sports leagues that joining forces with the administration on an issue like this would be unprecedented.

“It is difficult for us to remember another occasion when major sports league took public sides in such a highly polarized public debate,” McConnell and Cornyn wrote. “Yet given this administration’s public request of your assistance in promoting this unpopular law, we felt it important to provide you with a fuller accounting of the facts before you made such a decision.”

An HHS spokesperson declined to comment on the letters. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Democratic aides point out that it’s nothing new for political leaders to partner with private organizations on behalf of their constituents, citing as one example the 2007 partnership between Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick and the Boston Red Sox to promote Romneycare. McConnell and Cornyn argued in their letters that there were “key differences” between the two laws, observing that one was bipartisan and the other passed on a partisan vote.

Meanwhile, House Republican Study Committee Chairman Steve Scalise (R-LA) sent letters dated Thursday to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and NBA Commissioner David Stern seeking answers to three questions about what HHS has asked of them with regard to “promotion or implementation” of Obamacare. Scalise asked them to provide details.

“Given the harmful impact on millions of your fans and the people of southeast Louisiana, coupled with the Obama Administration’s failure to meet the deadlines established to stand up their own law, I would caution you against being coerced into doing their dirty work for them,” Scalise wrote. “Please feel free to reach out to me if you have any questions or if you’re uncomfortable responding in writing due to concerns about inappropriate or unwelcomed pressure from the Administration to cooperate with the implementation of [Obamacare].”

LATE UPDATE:

NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy told TPM the league has “no plans” to engage on Obamacare.

“We have responded to the letters we received from members of Congress to inform them we currently have no plans to engage in this area and have had no substantive contact with the administration about PPACA’s implementation,” McCarthy said in an email.

Asked about the suggestion in the letters that the administration may be threatening or pressuring the NFL, McCarthy responded, “Not correct. [Q]uite simply, the NFL, NBA and others were contacted by the administration. We made no commitments nor discussed any substantive details with the administration.”

McConnell’s spokesman Michael Brumas, asked to elaborate on the alleged threat, told TPM the senator “is not alleging the administration has threatened or pressured the sports leagues. See the next to the last graf of the letter which says ‘Should the administration,’ etc.”

McConnell Cornyn Letter to NFL Obamacare

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2013/06/mcconnell-cornyn-letter-sports-leagues-obamacare.php?ref=fpb

LMAO

Very tacky tactics by the GOP/TPers ~ but not surprising give their lack of ethics ~ does anyone really believe people will stop watching professional sports if the leagues support ObamaCare? ~ when all is said and done, I predict the GOP/TPers efforts to tank ObamaCare will work out about as successfully as making Obama a one-term prez did ~ Sooz

GOP wants ACA to be DOA with NFL
By Steve Benen - Mon Jul 1, 2013 11:00 AM EDT

With implementation of the Affordable Care Act proceeding apace, the Obama administration has already talked about how best to reach the public, letting Americans know about benefits available to eligible families. The point of a public-relations campaign is obvious: not only will it benefit families who could use the help, but the more people participate, the more effective the law.

Republican leaders are well aware of this, and have begun pushing back aggressively, last week urging the commissioners of the National Football League and other major sports leagues not to help the U.S. government get the word out in any way.


Given what we've seen in recent years, the letters to the sports leagues certainly don't come as a surprise. Indeed, they're not happening in a vacuum, either -- Trivis Waldron noted on Friday that some conservative activists are threatening to turn their backs on the NFL if professional football partners with the U.S. government on this. The Weekly Standard, for example, said it would be "yet another reminder that football is best watched on Saturdays."

There's also the not-so-subtle irony of Mitch McConnell whining incessantly for several weeks about a "culture of intimidation," while he quietly presses the NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL, PGA, and NASCAR not to cooperate with federal officials -- because he says so.

But let's also not overlook the policy significance of this.

The reason the Senate minority leadership sent these letters is because they desperately hope to sabotage the post-reform health care system. As McConnell and Cornyn see it, if sports leagues help the government get the word out about, and Americans take advantage of the benefits they're entitled to, then the Affordable Care Act will succeed.

And success for "Obamacare" isn't something GOP officials are prepared to tolerate, so they're using their public offices to pressure the private sector to help undermine the law's efficacy.

As Jonathan Bernstein explained the other day, "It's possible that the ACA will collapse. But if it does, it's unlikely it will be the result of inherent problems with the legislation. If Obamacare fails, it's going to be because the Republican Party's all-out war on it -- a war that doesn't seem to have any concern at all for health-care consumers or the economy -- succeeds. Whether that's a good thing for health care? Well, that doesn't seem to be part of the equation."

Quite right. If Republicans can successfully sabotage the law, they win -- even if you and your family lose. We're watching one of those unusual dynamics in which federal officials actively and deliberately try to undermine other federal officials in the hopes of sabotaging federal law.

And no one seems to find this scandalous, or even surprising.

Finally, note that the Republican efforts may already be succeeding.


When the federal government is divided against itself, implementing federal law is certainly more difficult than it should be.

http://maddowblog.msnbc.com/_news/2013/07/01/19233798-gop-wants-aca-to-be-doa-with-nfl?lite

Good on the Ravens! ~ ~ Sooz

Obamacare to get a boost from Super Bowl champs
By Steve Benen - Wed Sep 4, 2013 10:38 AM EDT

In 2006, a Republican governor of Massachusetts -- I believe his name was Mitt Romney -- had just approved a sweeping health care reform plan and needed to inform Bay State residents about new benefits they were entitled to. State officials did the obvious, smart thing: they partnered with the Boston Red Sox and launched a campaign to inform the public.

The team played "a central role" in getting the word out to the public, and it worked like a charm. State residents learned what they needed to know; the uninsured got coverage; and "Romneycare" was a success.

Seven years later, the Obama administration would love to establish similar partnerships to help get the word out on the Affordable Care Act, but that's proven to be quite difficult. Senate Republicans, eager to sabotage the federal health care system out of partisan spite, contacted the NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL, PGA, and NASCAR in July, urging them not to partner with Washington on informing the public about health care benefits.

The unprecedented right-wing lobbying had some effect -- in the months since, both the NFL and NBA informed the White House that it would not help with the public-awareness campaign. Every other sports franchise and league has also stayed on the sidelines.

That is, until yesterday.


This is clearly great news for Maryland, arguably the single most effective state in the nation when it comes to implementing "Obamacare." It will, however, have no effect in the other 49 states.

Perhaps, with the Ravens on board, other sports franchises will get off the sidelines and into the game, so to speak?

http://maddowblog.msnbc.com/_news/2013/09/04/20325475-obamacare-to-get-a-boost-from-super-bowl-champs?lite

I just wonder if any of the letters either:

A) Ask for a donation to the GOP or

B) Reminded these organization of their previous support of the GOP and the reciprocal support from the GOP? (with a veiled threat of withdrawal of that support)

That door swings both ways, GOP, and you can bet your bottom dollar that it's the usual political posturing and $$$ involved.

man they are stupid.