Article snippet: For many years, fans who want the network to “stick to sports” have accused cable sports network ESPN of infusing left-wing politics into its sports coverage, and many feel that the loss of millions of subscribers is due to the network’s refusal to tell its on-air hosts and reporters to cool it on their blatant liberal bias. But, liberal politics has caused ESPN trouble in other ways, too. In another article assessing the things that led to ESPN’s latest mass firing, E.J. Hill of TheFederalist.com notes that liberal politics in the form of government policy and regulation also hurt ESPN. Aside from the arcane regulations of the cable TV industry, Hill notes that Obamacare had a major, negative impact on ESPN. Hill reports that ESPN had changed its policy for employees when Obamacare became law. Obama’s health care takeover forced ESPN to turn away from its heavy use of freelancers. After Obamacare was implemented, “the Obama administration put employers like ESPN with high numbers of 1099 workers… on notice,” Hill wrote. “Hire [employees] with benefits and withhold federal taxes, or face massive fines for the misclassification of workers.” The new law forced ESPN into unwanted union contracts. Because of this, Hill said, ESPN ended up initiating mass firings in 2013, 2015, and just this month because the new Obamacare rules caused the network’s salary costs to explode. This meant sacrificing production aspects, which compromised the quality of the telecast. Hill ... Link to the full article to read more