Pat Dollard

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Politico:

In his most recent remarks, President Obama has stopped mentioning what had been his mantra — that the House and Senate finish their health-care bills by the August recess — and switched to a less specific call to fast action.

The increased flexibility follows resistance by key senators in both parties to what they have called an “artificial deadline.”

A White House aide said the president isn’t letting up.

“No change in the timeline,” said the aide.

But prodding Congress in speeches on his top legislative priority Friday and Saturday, Obama didn’t mention the August deadline.

In remarks Friday in the White House Diplomatic Room, Obama said “now is not the time to slow down” but only promised health care reform would “happen this year.” He ignored a reporter’s question about pushing back his goal of having a bill before the start of the congressional recess.

And, devoting his weekly radio address to health care, Obama made no mention Saturday of the deadline, only urging the House and Senate “to seize this opportunity.”

The last time the president publicly mentioned his oft-stated deadline was in remarks in the Rose Garden Wednesday after the Senate health committee approved a health care bill.

“It should…provide the urgency for both the House and Senate to finish their critical work on health reform before the August recess,” Obama said of the Senate panel’s action.

But since then fresh concerns have emerged on Capitol Hill on how to pay for a bill, the long-term fiscal impact of legislation and a variety of other issues that are spurring some lawmakers to wave the yellow caution flag.

On Friday, six moderate senators whose votes will ultimately be pivotal on any health care bill issued a letter to the Democratic and Republican leaders of the Senate urging them to slow down.

“While we are committed to providing relief for American families as quickly as possible, we believe taking additional time to achieve a bipartisan result is critical for legislation that affects 17 percent of our economy and every individual in the U.S,” wrote Sen’s Ben Nelson (D-Ne.), Olympia Snowe (R-Maine), Joseph Lieberman (I-Conn.), Susan Collins (R-Maine), Mary Landrieu (D-La.) and Ron Wyden (D-Oregon).

They concluded their letter to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell: “We look forward to working with you to develop legislation that is vital to the well-being of the American people and urge you to resist timelines which prevent us from achieving the best result. This opportunity is rare and the impact will last for generations.”

Snowe and Nelson made similar comments about a timeline after meeting with Obama at the White House.

And Reid himself made no mention of the deadline, saying only that “We now stand on the doorstep of… achieving” a health care reform bill, in his most recent statement on the subject, sent out Friday afternoon.

The House is slated to begin its summer break on July 31st and the Senate on August 7th.