Democratic leaders in Congress are doing their best to keep health care reform on track, but even their public statements are starting to show that a vote this week in the House is a long shot.

On Monday, with no signs of any deal among Democrats, Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her leadership team tried again to put forward the message of unity, that they would get a bill finished soon and that Those Pesky Republicans would be turned back.

Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) spoke of "ridiculous claims" by the GOP on what the health care plan would do.

Majority Whip Jim Clyburn (D-SC) lashed out at GOP attacks on the cost of the bill, saying "we shouldn't talk about how much it's going to cost."

"What we should talk about is how much it's going to cost if we don't do this," said the man in charge of twisting arms for a health care vote.

When asked if the House would vote this week, Speaker Pelosi gave an answer that sparked a lot more questions.

"We're on schedule to do it either now, or do it whenever," the Speaker said just outside her office off the Capitol Rotunda, as she repeatedly indicated that Democrats would wait for the House Energy and Commerce Committee to finish marking up the bill before proceeding.

The Speaker also emphasized that she wanted to see what the Senate Finance Committee is going to do - that panel does not seem headed for a deal right away at all, raising more questions about whether the House will wait to act until after Labor Day.

Late on Monday night, Democrats gave more moderate Blue Dogs an offer that evidently covered all ten of their concerns about the health care bill, as Rep. Henry Waxman tries to resume work in the Energy and Commerce Committee on the bill.  The last time the panel met was eight days ago.

Frankly, it is very difficult to see how the Democrats could possibly put a bill on the floor for a vote this week in the House, especially if they wanted to get one through a committee.

But we'll see what happens today.