RECESS LOOMS AS SEPT 15 BECOMES NEW HEALTH CARE REFORM TARGET DATE

Politico.com

Mark your calendars: September 15 is the latest deadline for the Senate Finance Committee to strike a deal on health care reform.
Finance Chairman Max Baucus discussed the deadline Thursday with the bipartisan group of negotiators as they realized the August recess goal for committee work was going to be impossible.There are no plans at this point to go with a Democrat-only bill, a strategy that gives Republicans continued leverage in the ongoing negotiations. But the White House and congressional leaders have not forgotten about their ability to use a procedural maneuver known as reconciliation to sidestep the 60-vote threshold.A bipartisan bill is the overwhelming preference, “but we need to start looking at other steps as well as reconciliation,” a Democratic congressional official said Friday, adding that the staff has been preparing for it.

above Finance chairman Max Baucus