Obama: Congress Might Drop The Ball On Health Care–But Either Way, Let’s Shelve It For Several Weeks

Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), President Obama, and Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV)
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At a DNC fundraiser last night, President Obama had an interesting exchange with a Democratic organizer about health care reform, wherein he appeared to suggest that Congress could drop the ball and fail to pass a bill–and that voters should judge them harshly if they do.

“[I]t may be that — you know, if Congress decides — if Congress decides we’re not going to do it, even after all the facts are laid out, all the options are clear, then the American people can make a judgment as to whether this Congress has done the right thing for them or not,” Obama said.

Curious, because in the same appearance, Obama came closer than he’s yet come to laying out a process and a timeline for getting the bill done (I’ll give you a hint, not for several weeks).

“What I’d like to do is have a meeting whereby I’m sitting with the Republicans, sitting with the Democrats, sitting with health care experts, and let’s just go through these bills — their ideas, our ideas — let’s walk through them in a methodical way so that the American people can see and compare what makes the most sense,” Obama said.

And then I think that we’ve got to go ahead and move forward on a vote. We’ve got to move forward on a vote. But as I said at the State of the Union, I think we should be very deliberate, take our time. We’re going to be moving a jobs package forward over the next several weeks; that’s the thing that’s most urgent right now in the minds of Americans all across the country. And that will allow everybody to get the real facts, both about the health care crisis that we face, why it’s so important for deficit reduction, why it’s so important for families all across the country.

It’s hard to know what to make of this. On the one hand: Obama says he sees a way forward, and lays it out pretty clearly. But on the other hand, as Greg Sargent notes, he’s pretty clearly suggesting Congress might just completely drop the ball. That could be a warning shot at Congress, or it could be an attempt to put some distance between his presidency and the potential failure of his signature initiative. Either way, it’s probably left some people on the Hill feeling disgruntled. Or at least confused.

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