Trying to keep the Obama administration from inserting itself into every pore in the body politic, the two top Senate Republicans are warning executives of all major sports in the U.S. about potential “retaliation” from the White House if they decline to help promote Obamacare.

 And Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and Minority Whip John Cornyn, R-Texas, say they’ll have the leagues’ backs.

With the countdown to Obamacare’s Oct. 1 kickoff in progress and Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius making noises about recruiting the National Football League to the cause, the senators wrote the head offices of the top sports in the U.S. – football, baseball, hockey, basketball, the PGA and NASCAR – that the administration will want the leagues’ help promoting the law.

And, the senators wrote, the White House might get ugly if the leagues don’t comply. (The NFL has already said it’s not interested.)

“We have long been concerned by the Obama Administration’s record of using the threat of policy retaliation to solicit support for its policies or to silence its critics,” Mitchell and Cornyn wrote. “Should the administration or its allies suggest that there will be any policy consequence for your decision not to participate in their outreach efforts, we urge you to resist any such pressure and to contact us immediately so that we may conduct appropriate oversight.”

Any White House has a lot of ways to make life difficult for a business that it doesn’t like, but this one is particularly dangerous – look at the president’s speech this week announcing executive orders meant to force the nation’s energy industry into line.

“We urge you to resist any such pressure and to contact us.”

To sports leagues.

• Author
• Recent Posts

Joe Saunders

Joe Saunders, a 25-year newspaper veteran, is a staff writer and editor for BizPac Review who lives in Tallahassee and covers capital and Florida politics. Email Joe at [email protected].

Latest posts by Joe Saunders (see all)

• Pelosi goes off the deep end when asked if a baby is human; ‘might be the dumbest response in history’ - October 1, 2015
• GOP congressman, whose mom died of breast cancer, explodes: ‘I’m tired of getting lectures from Democrats!’ - October 1, 2015
• Undercover sting catches Hillary worker breaking law: Hispanic voter sign-up using ‘Trump’s ‘bi**hface’ - October 1, 2015

Comment

We have no tolerance for comments containing violence, racism, profanity, vulgarity, doxing, or discourteous behavior. If a comment is spam, instead of replying to it please click the ∨ icon below and to the right of that comment. Thank you for partnering with us to maintain fruitful conversation.