Harry Plays Hardball

Harry Reid has actually followed through on a threat for once, canceling the Senate's Columbus Day week recess so they can get their work done passing a freaking health care bill.

Reid had threatened earlier this month to cancel the break, but unlike similar warnings in the past, the leader followed through on Wednesday.

Reid has often threatened to cancel recesses or long weekends to spur colleagues to pick up their legislative pace. But he usually relents, letting fellow lawmakers fly home to visit their families and constituents around the country.

The pressure on Democrats to pass healthcare reform, however, has raised the stakes. Some Senate aides speculated that Reid did not want to give conservative activists a chance to stall progress by staging a second round of angry demonstrations during townhall-style meetings over the recess.

“The Columbus Day [recess] is fast approaching,” Reid said on the Senate floor. “It’s the week after next and with all the things going on here, it just would not be right for us to take that week off.”

Reid said the Senate would only work three days that week, taking off Columbus Day (a Monday) and the following Friday. The Senate would not vote until 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday.

But hey, it's at least three days to get work done. Must be nice, being exhausted from those three-day work weeks.