FCC plows ahead with scrapping TV ownership cap - POLITICO

The Federal Communications Commission voted 2-1 on Thursday to wipe out a longstanding limit restricting the reach of any one TV station owner to no more than 39 percent of U.S. households, setting the stage for bigger broadcast mergers in the years to come. 

But the FCC is also bound to face court challenges, with many detractors arguing the agency is treading past its own statutory limits and warning about the potential ills of media consolidation...

 https://www.politico.com/news/2026/08/06/fcc-plows-ahead-with-scrapping-tv-ownership-cap-01027287 

Elizabeth Warren says ‘tsunami of anger’ could prompt reversal of Trump era mega mergers

Exclusive: US Senator suggests architects behind ‘frenzy’ of blockbuster corporate deals have ‘badly miscalculated’…

 https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jun/25/elizabeth-warren-trump-mergers

 

Robert Reich Reacts: Banned SNL Sketch About Media Control

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/ADy64by4aRY

 

Opinion | The Ridiculous Medical Bill Brought to You by the Latest Hospital Merger - The New York Times

When hospitals buy doctors' practices, research shows, rates for visits tend to go up as they did for Mr. Finney. Some purchases are essentially catch-and-kill operations: Buy a nearby independent outpatient cardiac center, for example, in order to eliminate cheaper competition...

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/25/opinion/health/health-system-hospital-monopolies.html

America faces supply-chain disruption and shortages. Here’s why

…Congress should strengthen antitrust law, ban all large mergers, strictly control finance, and re-regulate our transportation industries...

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/oct/01/america-supply-chain-shortages

“Bad mergers” and noncompete clauses targeted in Biden executive order | Ars Technica

…Some of the order's broadest and most immediate effects will be felt in the labor market…

https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2021/07/biden-seeks-trustbuster-status-in-push-to-unwind-bad-mergers/

Rep. Katie Porter’s new report: Pharma mergers hinder cancer research and drug development - Vox

A new report from Rep. Katie Porter has an illuminating case study on the value of antitrust in health care.

https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/22256556/katie-porter-pharmaceutical-mergers-cancer-drug

FCC clears way for big TV mergers, eases broadband price limits

The Federal Communications Commission on Thursday accelerated its deregulation push under Republican control, voting to ease limits on broadcast TV ownership and prices that large telecom companies can charge businesses and governments for bulk broadband services....
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-fcc-deregulation-20170420-story.html

U.S. judge finds that Aetna misled the public about its reasons for quitting Obamacare

Aetna claimed this summer that it was pulling out of all but four of the 15 states where it was providing Obamacare individual insurance because of a business decision — it was simply losing too much money on the Obamacare exchanges.

Now a federal judge has ruled that that was a rank falsehood. In fact, says Judge John D. Bates, Aetna made its decision at least partially in response to a federal antitrust lawsuit blocking its proposed $37-billion merger with Humana....
http://www.latimes.com/business/hiltzik/la-fi-hiltzik-aetna-obamacare-20170123-story.html

This Data on Hospitals Will Make You Sick

Mergers have become commonplace as hospital megachains increasingly dominate the American health care market. But those mergers often go unscrutinized by state regulators, who fail to address the resulting risks to patients losing access to care, according to a new report released today. 

MergerWatch, which analyzes the hospital industry and opposes faith-based health care restrictions, surveyed health care statutes and regulations in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. It found that only 10 states require government review before hospital facilities and services can be shut down. Only eight states and DC mandate regulatory review when hospitals enter into more informal partnerships rather than full-scale mergers, closing a loophole that exists in other states for deals to pass with minimal state oversight....
http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2016/06/how-hospital-mergers-put-patients-at-risk

Obama Kills Largest Corporate Attempt Yet To Flee Overseas And Dodge Taxes

The largest-ever corporate merger to skip out on American tax obligations is now kaput.

Drug giant Pfizer is giving up on its corporate marriage to Ireland-based Allergan after an Obama administration policy change designed to prevent U.S. companies from fleeing taxes by moving their mailing address abroad. The $160 billion merger cemented last fall would have produced significant tax savings for Pfizer, at the expense of the American public.

The sudden collapse of the deal comes as news organizations the world over comb through the huge Panama Papers leak that exposes how individuals take similar advantage of the cracks in international tax law to conceal their personal holdings and business dealings with offshore shell companies. The leaks are bringing a burst of fresh attention to a long-standing problem: It’s very easy, and often legal, to slip out of the taxman’s grasp by way of clever accounting....
http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2016/04/06/3767056/pfizer-pays-150-million-escape-merger/