Good news from the always-controversial White House Chief of Staff. In an interview with NPR, he brought some good news:
The House of Representatives does plan to vote on health legislation before leaving for its August recess, White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel told NPR.
Emerging from several hours of meetings Thursday with House leaders, including Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Emanuel told NPR's Steve Inskeep that "their intention is to go next week and she is working toward that goal."
This is backed up, I think, by the news that the Dems are going to have a big throwdown of a caucus meeting on Monday and that the Speaker is considering bypassing the Energy and Commerce committee.
Also, it looks like even though gutless wonder Harry Reid failed to extend the recess in order to pass a bill, the chances look good that something can be reported out of SFC and combined with the HELP bill for action in September:
On Thursday, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid acknowledged what had become obvious in recent days — that the full Senate would not vote on health care in August.
"It's better to have a product based on quality and thoughtfulness rather than try to jam something through," Reid said.
But he said the Senate Finance Committee would produce a bill and work on it before the August recess begins.
And Rahm, ever the smooth one in public, had some funny quotes:
Emanuel shrugged off comments from Sen. Jim DeMint, a Republican from South Carolina, who said Wednesday that health care is Obama's "Waterloo." He also dismissed remarks Thursday by Sen. James Inhofe, a Republican from Oklahoma, that Republicans are plotting the bill's demise on a "week by week" basis.
"At least they're honest about their motivation. Their view about health care is about defeating President Obama," he said. "Politically, I actually appreciate what they said."
In all, a bit of a high note at the end of a shitty week for health care reform.