Crooks & Liars:

Amato: My question is, now we have these, we’ll call them conservative democrats, joining with some Republicans in wanting to delay the bill, and saying that they need more time to go over it and actually read it. My question to you is, will you ask Congress to forgo their August recess and work this bill out? Because while they’re taking a vacation, millions of Americans are either losing their health care or are about to go bankrupt because of health care issues. So if they’re going to whine about not having enough time, then they should act like real Americans and work during August.

Ever since Chris Weigant pointed out that presidents can call special sessions of Congress , I’ve been waiting to see the idea come up in Washington. During Obama’s conference call with liberal bloggers yesterday, the subject finally got aired by John Amato of

The president replied at length about the importance of health care reform as his number one domestic priority. He spoke strongly against delay, but dodged Amato’s central question. Amato attempted to get clarification, asking whether Obama would “make them give us a bill before the August recess:”

President Obama: We are working as hard as we can, and I’ve told Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi that it is critical that we see serious forward motion before people leave. Alright?

Translation: Obama has a trump card and he’s made sure that Reid and Pelosi know it.

More as this story develops.