Another delay for healthcare reform?

The full House may not vote on a bill until the end of next month

Published August 17, 2009 5:05PM (EDT)

Seems like all the protests at town halls held by members of Congress this month have had some effect. According to Politico's Mike Allen, the House leadership is planning another delay in getting healthcare reform done -- and it's, at least in part, because of the town halls.

"Leaders now say the House will put off a vote on health reform until the end of September — to provide a cooling-off period from the raucous town meetings and to give strategists a better sense of where the Senate is headed," Allen writes.

This isn't the first delay, either. The original deadline set by President Obama called for the House and Senate to move on reform before they broke for their August recess; after it became clear that deadline wouldn't be met, congressional leadership wanted to show some progress, like a firm draft of a bill in the Senate Finance Committee. That hasn't happened, either.


By Alex Koppelman

Alex Koppelman is a staff writer for Salon.

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Healthcare Reform War Room