The Final Countdown
Washington,
Mar 9 -
Is this The Final Countdown? The health care clock was supposed to hit zero before last year’s August recess. Later the deadline moved to November. Then December. Then the countdown was set to run out before the State of the Union address. There were probably even a few more missed deadlines along the way. Today, all eyes are focused on March 18.
So, is this the Big One? Don’t bet on it.
“Democratic House and Senate leaders will be hard-pressed to meet the Obama administration’s March 18 deadline for passing a comprehensive health care overhaul…The CBO scoring could take as long as a week, meaning it could take until March 16 to learn the independent agency’s conclusions.” (CQ, 3/8/10)
But fear not! Democrats already have another deadline ready to go when this one blows by.
“The most Hoyer would commit to was that the House will take at least an initial vote on the final health package by Friday, March 26, when the chamber is due to leave for its two-week Easter-Passover break. Hoyer didn’t say anything about final passage.” (CQ, 3/8/10)
Hey, why the big rush to vote before lawmakers go home to face their constituents for two weeks? Oh yeah. Their constituents may not like the Democrats’ plan.
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