Politico this morning:

Moderate House Democrats and a key committee chairman emerged from a three-hourmeetingat the White House on Tuesday with a tentative agreement to give an outside panel — rather than Congress — the power to make cuts to government-financed health care programs.
OMB Director Peter Orszag called it “probably the most important piece that can be added” to thehealthcarebill in the House, and the deal between the Blue Dog Coalition and House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) was the first positive development Democratic Party leaders could claim since the American Medical Association endorsed their bill last week.
But the arcane-to-the-outside development is a pint-sized breakthrough in an ocean of concern. It’s also a concession to one subgroup — the Blue Dogs — that’s likely to inflame others.
And set against the self-imposed August deadline for getting health care reform through both the House and the Senate, such a small-ball advance underscores the amount of work still to be done.
After postponing a key drafting session early Tuesday morning, Waxman — who needs Blue Dog support to pass the bill — alerted members of his panel later in the day that they wouldn’t be resuming consideration of the bill until Thursday at the earliest, according to an e-mail from Republican aides.