Rahm’s trying to change her mind, if only to save face after last week’s prediction, but what incentive do House Democrats have to pass a bill now when Reid’s already said the Senate won’t vote before the break? Whatever gets through will be torn to pieces by Republican ads next month. Better to wait for now, keep things in flux, and mouth some talking points about how “all options are on the table” so that the GOP has no concrete target with which to galvanize opposition.

“It doesn’t look like it to me,” House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charles Rangel said in an interview. “I really hoped that we could have gotten a bill out of here by now,” he said, adding that he has a “heavy political heart.”…

With the Senate already planning to leave for its recess without voting, Obama’s chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, went to Capitol Hill to meet with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Majority Leader Steny Hoyer and members of the so-called Blue Dog coalition of Democrats, who object to the cost and structure of the legislation.

The House would only stay in session a few days after the start of the August break if an agreement can be reached to allow the bill to clear the Energy and Commerce Committee, where the Blue Dogs are holding up the legislation, Hoyer said earlier…

The Blue Dogs say they want to wring out hundreds of billions of dollars in additional cost savings from the medical system before agreeing to legislation that would extend coverage to uninsured Americans. They also insist that Congress find a way to pay for the plan without increasing the deficit.

Democratic leaders told Politico earlier today that there would indeed be no floor vote before the recess but now Pelosi’s saying nothing’s been decided yet. What possible benefit would there be to voting now? Is the idea to create some momentum heading into the break, i.e. “we’re halfway there!” That’ll arguably work even better in reverse for the GOP, driving home the urgency of stopping the Senate bill. Maybe it’s all just an ego stroke for The One: “Let me be clear: I said we’d pass something before the break and we did.” I don’t get it.