The deal between Blue Dogs and House Democratic Leaders is but one step in a very tricky dance that may or may not lead to approval of health care reform legislation in Congress.

If Democrats can hold their members in line, then the next move is up to the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which has spent the last ten days on hold, waiting for negotiators to come up with a deal.

The goal is to get a reform bill through the Energy and Commerce Committee by the weekend.

But - here's where things start getting interesting - that would not be the bill that goes to the House floor, because two other committees also play a part in health care in the House.

So, before any "final" bill can be sent to the House, Democratic leaders will have to fuse those three bills together.

And that's not happening overnight, I can tell you that.

So even when lamwakers go home for their August break, they might not have a "final" bill to show their constituents.

(Note to self: It won't stop either side from making their case, that's for sure.)

So during the August recess, a final bill will have to be formulated by Democratic leaders, which probably means some last minute changes along the way.

Over in the Senate, the same scenario is involved.  The Senate Finance Committee is trying to produce a bill - and whenever that happens - it will be fused with a bill from the Senate Health Committee.

Like the House side, that might not happen quickly, meaning that August may be more of a month of legislative limbo than anything else.

In other words, there's a long way to go before either the House or Senate get down to the business of working on the floor on health care reform.