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Gibbs: Obama May Ask Congressional Leaders To Delay Recess If They Fail To Meet Health Care Deadline

At today's White House press briefing, Robert Gibbs told reporters that President Obama would consider asking either or both houses of Congress to delay their recesses if they haven't held a vote on health care reform legislation before their scheduled adjournment dates.

In theory, the President could call Congress into special session, but it's hard to imagine that it'll come to that. This may be the first acknowledgment from the White House that things are further behind schedule than Obama would like. And with Obama set to meet with Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT)--chairman of the Senate Finance Committee--and Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-NY)--chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee--this afternoon, it may be a sign that the administration is stepping up its involvement in the process as the deadline approaches.


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Hm, so if they're going to be working overtime on health care past the point they're supposed to adjourn, could this imply bad things for Reid's promise to get the Matthew Shepard / hate crimes bill voted on by the August Recess? :/

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Smart move. Time is not on his side. The R's know it and their strategy is stall, stall, stall.

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In theory, the President could call Congress into special session, but it's hard to imagine that it'll come to that.

Well, that's the implied threat behind this. Or at least, it should be. With luck that's sufficient to get their attention.

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Does anyone else find it ironic that, of all the committees that have jurisdiction over this thing, the Senate Finance Committee is the one lagging furthest behind in identifying a funding source? I mean, WTF? If they aren't going to take the leading oar on that, what's the point of even letting them in the frigging boat?

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My sense of irony has been completely choked by the behavior of Senate members at this point.

No matter how much protesting Baucus does to the contrary, I don't see him as wanting anything to ever happen on health care.

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Hence why he joined the committee, you can get lots of money that way.

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