NY Congressman Massa to Resign...or Maybe Not

Dem Congressman Eric Massa had planned to resign at 5pm this evening, citing both health problems and ethics problems for his decision. Today he's not mincing his words as he talks about White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel and House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer:

As for the charge that House Democrats set him up, Massa said he only came to belief after reading two articles on Sunday morning before his broadcast: An Associated Press article in which House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer discussed the ethics investigation, and a Roll Call article about how the recent departure of several Democrats from the House would help pass health care legislation. Massa said he believes he was the swing vote that would decide the fate of the bill—and that Hoyer’s decision to disclose details of the investigation proves Democratic leadership was out to get him.

With Massa’s resignation, Democrats now need only 216 votes in the House to pass the bill.

Massa also described a profanity-filled conversation he had with White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel after he voted against the president’s health care legislation last year. Massa called on Emanuel to resign for his own use of profane language during the phone call.

“Rahm Emanuel is son of the devil’s spawn,” Massa added. “He is an individual who would sell his mother to get a vote. He would strap his children to the front end of a steam locomotive.”

And there's a possibility that he might not resign today after all (from Red State):

New York Democratic Rep. Eric Massa may not be ready to leave Washington, hinting in an interview he may rescind his resignation, scheduled for 5 P.M. Monday.

On his weekly radio show, Massa, one of thirty-nine Democrats who voted against last year’s health care bill, said House leadership was orchestrating a public relations campaign against him for the sake of accelerating his resignation and lowering the number of votes Democratic whips must secure for health care’s passage.

“Mine is now the deciding vote on the health care bill, and this administration and this House leadership have said, quote unquote, they will stop at nothing to pass this health care bill,” Massa said. “And now they’ve gotten rid of me and it will pass. You connect the dots.”

Reports surfaced Wednesday indication Massa was retiring, citing recurrence of cancer, while others still said the freshman Democrat was under review by a House ethics panel for sexually harassing a junior male aide.

At various points in the hour-and-a-half-long broadcast, Massa indicated he would rescind his resignation if the Pelosi-Hoyer power play became national news.

“I’m not going to be a Congressman as of 5 o’clock [Monday] afternoon. The only way to stop that is for me to rescind my resignation. That’s the only way to stop it. And the only way that’s going to happen is if this becomes a national story.”

This guy sounds pretty mad. He could really mess with Rahm's mind by staying in Congress long enough to vote against Obamacare. Right now I think it's a real possibility he might do that.