NFL

Time for lawmakers to sack sports subsidies.

Goodell has placed his NFL against the Anthem and the Flag – and American veterans wanting respect for both. And for threatening-America-with-nuclear-bombs-Communist-dictator Kim Jong-un.

The huge dust-up over the protests of the American flag during the presentation of the national anthem by National Football League players has served to dramatize a massive deficiency in civics education in this nation.

There is a difficult paradox between the NFL protests today directly at the center of the debates: it may be American to have the right to protest, but it may be un-American to choose to use it.

Elected officials often say using taxpayer money to pay for the construction or renovation of sports stadiums is an easy way to boost local economies and revitalize the flagging fortunes of downtown areas. But what really happens is that these teams pit cities against one another in competition for franchises, using their scarcity as a way of wresting ever-greater subsidies from taxpayers while team values rise to astronomical levels.

Heartland Institute writer Paula Bolyard joins The Heartland Institute’s Budget and Tax News managing editor, Jesse Hathaway, to discuss a lawsuit filed by former Chicago Bears linebacker Hunter Hillenmeyer against the city of Cleveland, Ohio.

This is the real thing the NFL is concerned about: as a seventh round tweener DE/LB, the odds don’t favor a long career for Sam. Maybe he’ll beat those odds, and the league would love it if he does.