During the first years of the Obama administration, the Republican strategy was to obstruct efforts to improve the economy and create more jobs. Then, at election time, they went to the public to say that “Obama hasn’t made things better.” But now, they are moving into outright sabotage of the things that government does for people — like the new health care law — with election plans to campaign on the failure of government to do things for people.

Most of the new health care law goes into effect next year, with the “exchanges” beginning at the end of this year. But the public has little, if any, understanding of what is coming and what it means to them.

An April Kaiser Family Foundation Health Tracking poll found that only 40 percent of the public even knows that the health care law has been upheld by the courts and not repealed by Congress. “Also about half the public says they do not have enough information about the health reform law to understand how it will impact their own family, a share that rises among the uninsured and low-income households.”

And less than 10 percent report hearing anything good about the new law.

The government is beginning (really, really late in the game) to try to get information to the public. Among other efforts, the Department of Health and Human Services had been talking to sports leagues about ways they can help educate the public. Republicans immediately moved to nip that in the bud.

TPM: GOP Leaders Warn Pro Sports Leagues Not To Promote Obamacare

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.

It worked: CNN immediately reported that the NFL has ‘no plans’ to promote Obamacare.

The reason Republicans went after the sports leagues is because in a past public-information effort, sports turned out to be a good way to get information out to the public. In 2007, the Boston Red Sox assisted then-Gov. Romney in promoting the new Massachusetts health care law. This helped spread public knowledge and understanding of the new law.

But public knowledge and understanding is to Republicans like garlic is to vampires. Increased public knowledge and understanding get in the way of their agenda.