Deal won't resign until after health care vote

It seems nobody can resign from Congress when they really want to.

First, Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas) was forced to stick it out thanks to crucial votes in the Senate. And now, Rep. Nathan Deal (R-Ga.) said he will stay on longer than he intended in order to vote on the health care bill.

Deal was under pressure from conservatives for vacating his seat when a critical vote was about to be cast. He originally said he would resign next week, but now he's staying on until later this month.

"Just two days after I announced my intentions to leave Congress, the majority party stepped up the schedule for the proposed health care bill," Deal said in a statement. "Having been deeply involved in all health care legislation for the past decade, I knew it was important to stay and vote down this bill."

In the same statement, Deal seemed to feel the need to defend his impending resignation.

"I announced my resignation from Congress to focus on winning the Republican primary for governor so as to deny Roy Barnes the opportunity to face the Republican candidate who currently leads solely based on name recognition, but is the one Republican that Roy Barnes is sure to defeat," he said.

One wonders what happens if the vote gets delayed or if another crucial vote hangs in the balance soonafter.