I don’t know if the Olbermann suspension had anything to do with Comcast’s imminent takeover or just a reflexive tendency within MSNBC to follow the political winds. But there’s no question that media concentration has led to a narrowing of the subjects up for discussion and the voices allowed to brooch those subjects.

99% of all health insurance markets are highly concentrated. That hasn’t been seen in an entire sector since the Gilded Age.

On a conference call sponsored by Families USA and HCAN, Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA) urged Democrats to pass the reconciliation bill of fixes to the health care law without any amendments or additions, so it can go directly to the President for his signature. When challenged on the likelihood of that happening, given the probability of small points of order from Republicans knocking out pieces of the bill, Harkin dismissed that as speculative.

President Barack Obama told House Democrats on Thursday that he wants to reduce the amount of time certain biotechnology treatments are protected under an agreement in both the House and Senate bills

Louise Slaughter (D-NY), a co-chair of the Pro-Choice Caucus and the Chair of the House Rules Committee, has laid down a powerful marker, signaling that the Senate’s bill should be defeated, and suggesting that the Congress start over from scratch.